dcmccarthy
Member
I am now 6 weeks post-op and thought I would share my experience. I’m a long time lurker here!
Like me, I'm sure people heading into a valve replacement are reading every last thing they can find on the matter.
For me, I was most interested in things like pain levels, duration of stay in hospital, and experiences with such things as chest tubes.
I was diagnosed with a bicuspid aortic valve and mild aortic enlargement at 17 years old. Fast forward 20 years and I am now 6 weeks post-op. Prior to surgery my valve had an area of 0.8cm and my aorta was 48mm at its largest, narrowing before the aortic arch. I was asymptomatic.
I am from Newfoundland, Canada, and opted to have my surgery at the Ottawa Heart Institute, a quick 2.5 hour flight away. This is a world class facility and has some phenomenal surgeons. I can't recommend the OHI enough to any Canadians here facing surgery.
Leading up to surgery I got quite emotional and quite nervous. I was worried about everything from being put under to not making it through. The last couple of days leading up had their share of hard moments.
A Tuesday was surgery day for me, and on the Sunday prior I went I the hospital for some general pre surgery things - blood work, health questions etc. I was sent away to return the next morning for a CT angio. I never had a cath done. All was clear on the angio.
Monday I met with the anesthesiologist and my surgeon. That night I was given a disinfectant soap to shower with, and an imovane to help me sleep.
Tuesday morning I was as one of the first cases, and again I showered with the disinfectant soap and was then given something to help me relax. In my case it was 3mg of Ativan and a dose of dilaudid. Within no time I was feeling grand.
As previously mentioned I was very nervous about being put to sleep. Upon arriving in the OR I told the anesthesiologist this, and through a conversation I had with him post op, I learned he gave me half the dose of the anesthetic right away. The last thing I remember in the OR was being asked to move over to the operating table from the gurney. I remember telling them I could do it, but don't remember making it.
I spent 99 minutes on the pump, and in that time I had my ascending aorta replaced, my valve replaced, and the calcification that extended down into the chamber of my heart and onto my mitral valve cleaned up. They started on me about 8:30am, and my surgeon was out talking to my family a little after noon. I'm told my surgeon is amongst the fastest at the OHI. I was given a CE Perimount Magna Ease tissue valve. At 37 I was not ready for a daily medication regime and did not want a mechanical valve. If I had to make the choice all over again it would be tissue all the way, and I can only hope that I will have an option aside from mechanical/warfarin when my valve needs replacing again.
I awoke as many have posted, with a breathing tube in. I also had a tube in my nose. Both were removed fairly quickly and I remember very little more about them than that. The pain over the next 24 hours was controlled with a steady drip of dilaudid and a bollis every few hours as needed. The next day the most pain and discomfort I felt was from my chest tubes. Luckily they were removed the morning following surgery and iw as give healthy dose of Fentanyl for their removal. Having them removed was more of a burning sensation than anything else, but between the dilaudid and fentanyl I didn't care at all. In addition to the breathing, nose and 2 chest tubes I had 2 pacing wires and standard catheter. I was having pacing issues after just opening me up I was told.
Due to pacing issues post op I spent 8 days in the ICU before I got a pacemaker put in. Go figure that after it was inserted I started to pace on my own! The day after the pacemaker insertion I was discharged.
The pacing wires and catheter weren't too bad being removed. The catheter burned a bit, and the pacing wires I only felt as they came through the surface of my skin.
I was sent home with dilaudid and tramacet for pain. The dilaudid was primarily because of the pacemaker, which was a somewhat painful little thing for some time. I had about 7 days worth of tramacet and just used Tylenol after that as needed. I was also prescribed imovane to help me sleep at home.
For sleep, I could lay on my right side propped up with a bunch of pillows. Looked awful but it wasn't painful. In the past 2 weeks I've been able to do short periods on my left side and stomach but still favor that right side.
Other than all that I walk and breath as many have mentioned, and feel as good if not better than ever.
-dave
Like me, I'm sure people heading into a valve replacement are reading every last thing they can find on the matter.
For me, I was most interested in things like pain levels, duration of stay in hospital, and experiences with such things as chest tubes.
I was diagnosed with a bicuspid aortic valve and mild aortic enlargement at 17 years old. Fast forward 20 years and I am now 6 weeks post-op. Prior to surgery my valve had an area of 0.8cm and my aorta was 48mm at its largest, narrowing before the aortic arch. I was asymptomatic.
I am from Newfoundland, Canada, and opted to have my surgery at the Ottawa Heart Institute, a quick 2.5 hour flight away. This is a world class facility and has some phenomenal surgeons. I can't recommend the OHI enough to any Canadians here facing surgery.
Leading up to surgery I got quite emotional and quite nervous. I was worried about everything from being put under to not making it through. The last couple of days leading up had their share of hard moments.
A Tuesday was surgery day for me, and on the Sunday prior I went I the hospital for some general pre surgery things - blood work, health questions etc. I was sent away to return the next morning for a CT angio. I never had a cath done. All was clear on the angio.
Monday I met with the anesthesiologist and my surgeon. That night I was given a disinfectant soap to shower with, and an imovane to help me sleep.
Tuesday morning I was as one of the first cases, and again I showered with the disinfectant soap and was then given something to help me relax. In my case it was 3mg of Ativan and a dose of dilaudid. Within no time I was feeling grand.
As previously mentioned I was very nervous about being put to sleep. Upon arriving in the OR I told the anesthesiologist this, and through a conversation I had with him post op, I learned he gave me half the dose of the anesthetic right away. The last thing I remember in the OR was being asked to move over to the operating table from the gurney. I remember telling them I could do it, but don't remember making it.
I spent 99 minutes on the pump, and in that time I had my ascending aorta replaced, my valve replaced, and the calcification that extended down into the chamber of my heart and onto my mitral valve cleaned up. They started on me about 8:30am, and my surgeon was out talking to my family a little after noon. I'm told my surgeon is amongst the fastest at the OHI. I was given a CE Perimount Magna Ease tissue valve. At 37 I was not ready for a daily medication regime and did not want a mechanical valve. If I had to make the choice all over again it would be tissue all the way, and I can only hope that I will have an option aside from mechanical/warfarin when my valve needs replacing again.
I awoke as many have posted, with a breathing tube in. I also had a tube in my nose. Both were removed fairly quickly and I remember very little more about them than that. The pain over the next 24 hours was controlled with a steady drip of dilaudid and a bollis every few hours as needed. The next day the most pain and discomfort I felt was from my chest tubes. Luckily they were removed the morning following surgery and iw as give healthy dose of Fentanyl for their removal. Having them removed was more of a burning sensation than anything else, but between the dilaudid and fentanyl I didn't care at all. In addition to the breathing, nose and 2 chest tubes I had 2 pacing wires and standard catheter. I was having pacing issues after just opening me up I was told.
Due to pacing issues post op I spent 8 days in the ICU before I got a pacemaker put in. Go figure that after it was inserted I started to pace on my own! The day after the pacemaker insertion I was discharged.
The pacing wires and catheter weren't too bad being removed. The catheter burned a bit, and the pacing wires I only felt as they came through the surface of my skin.
I was sent home with dilaudid and tramacet for pain. The dilaudid was primarily because of the pacemaker, which was a somewhat painful little thing for some time. I had about 7 days worth of tramacet and just used Tylenol after that as needed. I was also prescribed imovane to help me sleep at home.
For sleep, I could lay on my right side propped up with a bunch of pillows. Looked awful but it wasn't painful. In the past 2 weeks I've been able to do short periods on my left side and stomach but still favor that right side.
Other than all that I walk and breath as many have mentioned, and feel as good if not better than ever.
-dave
