What to expect POST surgury

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Z

zztimeout

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 23, 2011
Messages
52
Location
Brisbane, QLD AUSTRALIA
I am down for surgury for early May and I have read a lot of posts about recovery...
Can everyone please make a post about their recovery rates...

Example -- what happen when you open your eyes... how much pain ? how long in ICU, how long in ward... when you could sit up by yourself...when could you walk... how far.. these are the things I really want to know....

I just bought a recliner chair as most people say it will be your best friend and you bed for a while....

Really keen to know what I am in for..... I am having ascending aorta replacement.. with David proceedure.

Thanks
Dave
 
Dave, When I first woke up, I was very drugged up, so even though I knew I was awake, I wasn't very aware. I couldn't stay awake for very long periods of time, I would drift in and out of sleep for hours. I really was not in any pain at all at that point. I stayed in the ICU for 48 hours. During that time, they got me up in a chair several times. I didn't walk until day 3 when I had been moved out of ICU. That first day, I only walked a couple of times, just right outside of my room and back. But, each day, they pushed me to walk further and more often and they would have me sit in the recliner for hours each day. The most uncomfortable time for me each day was at night when I was in the bed for long stretches of time. That was when I was in the most pain, but that was mostly in my back and shoulders, hardly none in my chest. I know everyone is different, and everyone experiences pain differently, but I think you might be surprised at how little pain you have in your actual chest, or at least I hope so. They have good drugs to help you with all of this, so take advantage of them!


Kim
 
Funny thing about opening your eyes. With my experience of "coming to" after surgery was like my eye lids were really heavy and just wanted to stay close and my mind was trying to wake up. Kinda like after having a really good nights sleep, your laying there in bed but too lazy to open your eyes and get up, yet your mind is telling you to get up. This feeling for me lasted for a few hours in ICU.

Pain? Didn't feel any pain, don't think I felt any pain even when I threw-up in ICU (had to many ice-chips lol)

I was in ICU about 15 hours before I was moved into a ward and I stayed there for 3 days then I was released to go home.

After getting settled in this ward, (about 3 hours later) I went for a short walk with the nurse, in fact I think I went for 3 or 4 slow, short walks that day. Never sat in a chair, just at the side of the bed, which I did by myself.

Although I have 4 recliners, I never used one of them, not even during the day, slept in my own bed right from day one.

Hope this helps
 
Hi Dave,
I woke up in ICU about six hours after surgery and remember a nurse immediately telling me that the surgery had gone well and my husband had seen me and that my Ross Procedure went well. I drifted in and out that night and, like Freddie says above, the main thing was really heavy eyelids that just wanted to stay closed, although I was trying to open them (don't know why! Not much to see!). It was very noisy and glarey in ICU. My sisters and my husband came in the next morning and I remember talking to them. My husband sat with me for several hours and helped me with sipping water (which I threw up) and sucking on ice chips. Again, like Freddie, the pain was in my neck and back, not in my chest. I do remember feeling like I wanted to sit up but couldn't. I do know I was raving a bit and demanding more painkillers for my neck/back but I think I was on plenty.
My surgery was on a Tuesday and they got me into a chair on the Wednesday afternoon (I was uncomfortable but it helped to sit up for a while). I must have taken a couple of steps to the chair but don't really remember! I was moved to the ward (in a wheelchair) on the Thursday afternoon but didn't start feeling 'better' until the Friday, when I had a shower (fantastic) and I could start walking around a bit, which was easier than I had anticipated. I'm sure being OFF the heavy meds I was on in ICU was the thing that got me feeling much better. They just made me feel so sleepy and out of it.
During the day I was pretty comfortable, usually sitting up in bed or on a chair. Night time was the toughest, just getting comfortable for the night. I'd wake early and walk around the ward several times a day from the Friday. DON"T overdo it with visitors. No more than one or two at a time and no more than a few a day. It might not seem it at the time, but talking to people is really tiring, especially just going over and over the surgery and how you're feeling. All I did was watch tv (couldn't read, except flick through mags and newspapers) and, once able, checked my iphone and txtd a few people. Even sent them a pic of my scar (maybe I was still drugged...?).
I was discharged the Tuesday after my surgery - so was in for eight nights (I went in on the Monday night as my surgery was first thing Tuesday 22 Feb). I was feeling pretty fragile when I came home and nervy about people coming too close to me as felt v protective of chest, but that improved pretty quickly.
I didn't buy/hire a recliner and have slept in own bed since I came home - though I don't think I've slept more than four hours at a time. It's hard to get and stay comfortable. Even with sleeping tablets.
I'm now 30 days post-op and feeling pretty good - can walk 30 minutes and do basic housework and work on computer. I do still get tired if I overdo things though. A couple of busy days in a row will mean I'm v tired the next day. I was napping most afternoons but, because I was having trouble sleeping, my GP has suggested I ditch the afternoon sleep so I am even more tired at night.
Hope all this helps.
Alli
 
It was not at all like I had imagined ... I had surgery on Tuesday and left the hospital Friday (a bit to soon) ... don't remember any pain when I woke up ... less than 24 hours in ICU ... I'm very thankful for my recliner as I pretty much "napped" in it for the first week or so ...

Everyone is different ... if you are strong and otherwise healthy you should have no problems ... Oh, I had surgery on the 21st if February and went back to work the 1st of April ...
 
Went into OR at 7:30am on a Monday, said hi to anesthesologist (spelling?) out like a light right after that. Woke up cause I could hear someone calling my name. Opened my sleepy eyes to see my husband, daughter & son by my bed. Husband said I was in ICU and to not try to talk since breathing tube still in and that I had been in surgery for 3 hours. Motioned to my husband that I was very hot, he understood and nurse brought cold wash cloth. I nodded OK and went right back to sleep. Later (undetermined how long) ICU nurse told me to take a big breath and they took the tube out. Back to sleep I went. Some time after that woke up a little and ICU nurse said I was doing great and to just rest.
Tues. morning moved to step-down unit, Phys. Therapy came by and got me out of bed to sit in chair. Then back to bed after a few hours.
Wednesday through Friday ate, slept sat in chair, walked around ward with PT. Friday evening told to go home.
All in all had a very smooth surgery and recovery. Sore? yes. Got tired quickly? At first yes but got easier everyday.
Slept in my own bed propped with lot and lots of pillows, but only slept for 2-3 hours at a time.
Check-ups with surgeon, cardiologist and primary care docs every couple of weeks. Released to return to my desk job after 8 weeks. Feel great!
 
My surgery was on Monday @ 1:00pm and ended around 10:00pm. When I woke up the next morning ,I was so relieved to make it out alive. I was spaced out and confused. I wasn't really in much pain but i was REALLY thirsty. First day I was drifting off/on. The second day I was still confused ,agitated and tired. Stayed in the ICU for 3 days. Moved to the step down unit on the 4th days. I was trying get out of bed, but that didn't happen. I was still tired and not sleeping. They assigned a PA 24 hrs a day because I was still confused ,agitated,hallucinating and angry. I even had a psychiatrist doctor in the room asking question to me like "what year are we in" " where are you right now" etc.... On the 5th day I was trying to get up and walk with the help of a nurse. I stayed in the hospital for 10 days. Before leaving the hopsital I needed to attend a discharge class and pass the psychiatrist test. I had a recliner, it really helped me. Best of luck with your surgery.
 
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Dave, I think most of us have a somewhat similar experience right after surgery. The surgical teams are very good at things like pain control and the nursing teams watch that almost obsessively. When you first wake, you will have so many drugs in your system that very little should bother you. Some of those drugs make memory formation difficult so you may have little recall of even the brief times you are awake in the ICU. I have only a handful of fuzzy memories. I don't remember being comfortable or uncomfortable, just groggy. I didn't "wake up" until the second day after the AVR and then I realized that I was not in any pain and I was hungry. Waiting for breakfast that morning, I watched the sun come up and found that I felt surprisingly good. Breakfast was exhausting so a nap was necessary then the first walk around the surgical floor which was also exhausting and required another nap. I packed books, Dave, and during the rest of my stay (in on Tuesday - home on Sunday) found that I couldn't concentrate well enough to read. I found TV annoying for the same reason; I kept loosing the thread of what was on so I turned it off. I did make a few telephone calls although I don't remember the ones I made on Thursday. The one thing I used a lot was my MP3 player. After leaving the ICU, the most exciting things that happened was my first shower and the removal of the tubes and wires. The shower was wonderful and the other things only took a few moments each. Walking, eating, sleeping was the routine and as each day passed, I became more annoyed at the frequent nursing checks. When my surgeon told me that on Sunday morning I could go home, my first response was to think "So Soon!" but I quickly realized that there was nothing being done for me in the hospital that I could not do for myself. Getting back home on Sunday was tiring but felt great. Waking in my own bed on Monday morning, it all seemed a little like an experience that had happened to someone else.

A week before surgery, my younger brother gave me a recliner - just in case. I actually never slept in it at night but it was very nice for napping or resting after walks and with a very basic lap table it was a very comfortable place to use my notebook and telephone.

Dave, you will have skilled people taking care of you in the hospital. Your days will be choreographed; just follow the script.

Larry
 
I'm not sure how long after surgery I woke up . . . I remember hearing the nurses telling me to open my eyes, squeeze their fingers, wiggle my toes. No idea how quickly I responded. The first night I drifted in an out of sleep. At some point they removed the breathing tube (didn't notice it until they pulled it) and at some point a pulmonary person came and gave me my spirometer and explained how to use it. I was nauseous for all of 20 seconds (I was lying flat on my back and as soon as they raised the back of my bed I was fine.) Got to suck on ice chips a bit later. No chest pain at all. Not sure what I was getting for pain . . . did not have a pump (darn!).

The next morning (day one after surgery) I was awake and watching tv. I don't remember eating at all. I was supposed to go to step-down at noon but my blood pressure was too low so they kept me in ICU. But at 4pm, they moved me (I think by gurney but I really don't remember how I got there!) I did have dinner that night but didn't eat much. No pain at all.

The next day (day 2) I wanted to sit in a chair because my back and shoulders hurt laying in bed. Nurse and hubby helped me into the chair. Later in the morning went for my first walk. Walked again a bit later but then started to feel crummy from either (or both) the anethesia working its way out or the percocet they were giving me. They changed pain meds to torodil. No pain (except my back). Removed my catheter and drains this day.

Day 3 after surgery everything was great. No pain (except back pain that came and went). Lots of walks. In and out of bed as I wanted.

Showered on day 4! Heaven. Lots of walks.

Discharged on day 6.

Flew home on day 8.

All in all, the hospital stay was uneventful and comfortable. It was nice to have people take care of me as I started to rebuild my strength.
 
Good recovery

Good recovery

Hi Dave. When I woke up for about 5 minutes in the ICU with the breathing tube, I felt as if a bus had run over me (but no pain really). I was totally lucid for those few minutes though. I was in a room in less than 24 hours, and was able to sit up at that time although I spent most of the time in bed and felt pretty "yucky" for a couple of days. On the third day I could get up and walk in the hallway. I had been up standing before that, but hadn't really done any walking. I went home after 5 days. I was still very weak, but I was able to sleep in our bed on my side. It was an effort to turn from one side to another, but somehow I did it without hurting myself. My appetite was strange for the first 10 days after the surgery, but after that, it was fine. Three weeks after the surgery, I felt great! I will admit that when I went downtown to shop after about 6 or 7 weeks, I was totally exhausted after a couple of hours, but that's normal. Basically, from the very beginning, each day was better than the previous day!
 
I'll just give you my experience like the others did. It is pretty much the same but we are all different.

Surgery #1: Woke up in ICU and first thought was "yes I made it" lol. Still had the vent but was drifting in and out so no big deal. They pulled it after a couple of hours. Was in ICU until 10AM next morning and nurses on ward talked me into walking one lap around nurses unit that afternoon. I won't kid you I had pain but it was manageable with the pain meds. My surgery was on Wednesday and I left the hospital on Sunday. I slept in a recliner the first 2-3 nights and then in my bed with lots of pillows to prop me in a comfortable position.

Surgery#2: Woke up in ICU and first thought was "yes I made it" lol. Still had the vent but was drifting in and out so no big deal. They pulled it after a couple of hours. Was in ICU until about 1PM next day (had to wait on a room to open up for a couple of hours). They actually had me do a short walk while I was still in ICU believe it or not, and then sit in a chair for awhile. Again there was pain (seemed like less this time or I just knew what to expect) but the pain meds kept it manageable. This time my surgery was on a Tuesday and I left the hospital on a Sunday. This time I was sleeping on my side in the bed before I left the hospital.
 
That last thing I rememember before the surgery was them giving me the happy juice before they even carted me into the OR. It literally seemed like a few seconds later that I was coming out of it. The were going to remove my breathing tube and wanted me to cough. I did my best to cough but it was a very wimpy cough. I think it came out and then I dozed off again. A little while later, I came to it and kind of knew what was going on (this was early evening). My wife was in the room and she looked very relieved. I did not have any pain/ confusion, just a bit out of it. I talked for a few minutes (I do remember being happy that everything went well), but then I dozed off. I also remember being extremely thirsty, but the best they would do is give me ice chips. I pretty much slept through the night (except for when they came in to give me chest xrays and other stuff), but the next morning I woke up and felt fine with the help of the pain meds they gave me. That morning, they had me get up and go for a short walk, then had me sit in the chair. Once again, I was not in pain or anything, just exhausted. I also was not hungry, so I forced down some smoothies. That is pretty much how the rest of the week went.

I had the surgery on Monday morning, was in the ICU until Wednesday night (11 PM), then went to a step down floor. I was discharged from the hospital on Thursday around 6PM. The bad part was we were stuck in rush hour traffic driving home.
 
Great thread!!

Great thread!!

Wow... I LOVE this thread. It is really helping me to feel better about my surgery...

Thanks everyone!
 
My initial thought was WOW, my heart works - the beat was VERY strong, and I'm alive. The breathing tube came out prior to waking up. The ICU nurse said they know to take it out when unconciously you try to spit it out yourself. I just lay there and thanked God. The ICU nurse was in a corner, smiled when she saw me wake up, and looked back at the computor screen. Then the vision of a focused nurse sitting beside me with recusitating paddles held ready in her hands left and I was calm. Vagly remember the neck IV coming out, assessed, yup there is a couple of drainage tubes in my stomach, a catheter inserted- oooo yuck to both and said to myself neither are permanent. And there was a scar where they cut me open to look at for the first time!!! No bandage. Stiff and sore as if I had finished playing tackle football, the most ache in my shoulders and back. Really not much pain- drugs work! Had me sit up and stand after the lecture on how to do it using your pillow. How to cough, how important it was to breath deeply through my nose and exhale through my mouth. I think I remember walking around in a couple of hours, not far, I don't know how I did it with the tubes in me. The nurse said I was doing really well. She left and came back with a Tim Hortons coffee for me to celebrate with!! She ordered a double meal for me that night. In Icu 2 and a half days- no room in the ward. Listened to surgeon complain me staying in ICU was expensive for the hospital.
Once in the ward the walking started immediatly with the rehab department with a walker if needed - I really didn't. Walked up and down 4 stairs. Kept up the instructed breathing pattern like a good boy. In the ward 3 days, coulda gone home in 2 but they had tests to do before they could release me. Catheter and drainage tubes came out day 2 on the ward. Wires- I think for wireless monitoring at the nurses station got yanked out on the last day-that was the most distorting feeling...over with in seconds. Had an assisted shower after that-the best feeling!!! I had felt sweaty, sticky and greasy.

Bob
 
I am glad those people are enjoying my thread.. I just wanted to read everyone's experience of what actually happened to them.. That way we know what to expect and can relate to other people while we are flat on our backs... Anything to help us newbies recover faster is a bonus..
Keep adding to this thread gang... More and more details the better
 
I don't know if you interested, but we kept pretty detailed up to date updates on Justin CB site (in my sig)for his last few surgeries. When he was able to be uu in a chair, eating, walking, moved to the heart floor from CICU until his release and first weeks home (much slower updates when he got home).. He was a little younger at 17 and 19 so you don't have to read the whole history you can scroll to May 3rd 2005 for the first and June 19th 2007 for the 2nd Sometimes, like the day of surgery, I would update a couple times at the same heading, so each new post has something like **** seperating them and you have to start at the bottom of that update and work your way up
 
My "wake-up" was a bit odd. Like most, it felt like only a split-second passed between pre-op and waking up in the ICU, although in my case it was about 10-12 hours later. However, unlike most, I woke up suddenly with people yelling questions at me. I had some visual hallucinations initially that only lasted 30 seconds or so, but I was completely alert and not at all drowsy and could understand the questions. Apparently I had been given what must be a routine injection of Fentanyl (narcotic pain med) post-op and I reacted to it by ceasing to breath. So a Code Blue was called, I was bagged and then given Narcan, which immediately reversed the narcotic's effects and I started breathing on my own again and woke up. The commotion quickly subsided and I felt absolutely fine. The only thing that bothered me was dry mouth, and the nurse was pretty stingy with ice chips until morning came. The real odd part was that I NEVER had one iota of pain or discomfort anywhere - no incisional pain, no shoulder or rib soreness, nothing. And the breathing tube was pulled before I woke up, so I have no recollection of that at all. The temporary pacing wire, chest tube(s), central line and bladder catheter never bothered me and I did not have any pain when they were removed. The worst thing that happened in the hospital was a minor phlebitis (vein inflamation) that subsided with warm compresses over a few days and a lot of trouble sleeping in the surprisingly noisy hospital environment. Like most, I retained a fair amount of fluid (maybe 10 lbs) at first, that diuresed away after a week, had some digestive problems (anesthesia commonly paralyzes the GI tract) that took longer to resolve, helped by some Reglan, and I was very impaired exercise-wise with gradual improvement in that over the first 2 months, aided greatly by cardiac rehab (highly recommended). Now, about 1.5 years later, I'm doing great, am remarkably stable on warfarin (always within a hair of my target 2.5) and only see my GP and cardiologist once a year from here on out.

I've been off-line here for about 8 months, enjoying life. Packed on almost 20 lbs which didn't help my cholesterol and blood pressure. I failed to generate my own exercise routine after completing cardiac rehab, so I'm back there again doing a scheduled workout; weight is melting away and my blood pressure has fallen like a rock. I'm happy just to be alive but even happier that I can do anything I did before surgery.
 
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