After your surgery, what are some of the things that you found out that surprised you

[Peej]

Things that have surprised me so far…

how quickly I was back up and walking with ease
how quickly I was able to get by without any pain medication
odd but I avoided looking at my incision for 2+ weeks
the thump I feel in my head from my heartbeat

 

[TellTaleHeart]

Things that have surprised me so far…

how quickly I was back up and walking with ease
how quickly I was able to get by without any pain medication
odd but I avoided looking at my incision for 2+ weeks
the thump I feel in my head from my heartbeat

Man, I love reading the “how quickly” parts Peej! I’m under the scalpel in 2 days. Can you expand on the thump in the head part? Is that a good thing or a disconcerting thing?
May you continue your happy recovery!!

 

[almost_hectic]

I jokingly told the surgeon (and was actually serious) I would like them to video my surgery. He obviously did not take the bait.

Im not sure how Id feel about watching a video of the surgery, but it would be interesting as hell to at least have a photo of my heart when they had it exposed.

 

[Peej]

Man, I love reading the “how quickly” parts Peej! I’m under the scalpel in 2 days. Can you expand on the thump in the head part? Is that a good thing or a disconcerting thing?
May you continue your happy recovery!!

this describes it....

 

[almost_hectic]

If I hadn't already added it to this thread, I think for me one of the biggest shockers was finding out that part of surgical prep meant having a stranger shave my entire body! Nobody told me that was going to be a thing. A very awkward thing

 

[ATHENS1964]

Im not sure how Id feel about watching a video of the surgery, but it would be interesting as hell to at least have a photo of my heart when they had it exposed.

I have a photo of the valve before it is removed.
I called the surgeon and he did the trick for me, he even told me laughing that if I want he can get me one for a passport when I need it.

 

[TellTaleHeart]

If I hadn't already added it to this thread, I think for me one of the biggest shockers was finding out that part of surgical prep meant having a stranger shave my entire body! Nobody told me that was going to be a thing. A very awkward thing

As I was getting clipped with my wife in the room, idle conversation with the orderly uncovered that he was a longtime friend of some of my wife’s family. There was a lot of “Sure, I knew him well” as he manscaped me

 

[AZATADINE]

Just a question on the prep for the operation on the big day itself, what do they give you in the hospital prior to going to prep/operation?

I was dreading being wheeled into the operating theatre awake. However, I just remember waking up on the morning of the op, taking two pills, showering, tidying away my things and lying down on the bed to wait. I felt pretty much wide awake at this stage....the next thing I remember is coming around in the ICU...

Did I conk out suddenly or was I awake while some of the prep etc was going on but just don't remember it? Just curious.

 

[Keithl]

They would not give me a tranquilizer until I was in the OR and on the IV and at that point it would be useless, so I opted to skip it. It was a bit terrifying to get wheeled in and see the heart/lung machine and all the people and a tray with dozens of tools. It was not long before they had me knocked out.

 

[Michael O]

They took me in a pre-op room to get shaved, hook up some IVs, etc. I sort of remember this because of a conversation about my tattoos. They brought my wife back and we talked a bit before hey then asked her to go back out into the waiting room (very little of which I remember), before they were going to start giving me meds. I don't remember anything past that until post-surgery. My sense is that the anesthesia has some effect on memory formation for events just prior to they're being delivered.

Very bummed I didn't see the operating theater.

 

[Keithl]

The Operating theater in Cleveland was nothing more than a room, maybe 20x20 if even that. Nothing fancy, just a room.

 

[Chuck C]

@AZATADINE

I was completely awake for my prep and was not offered a tranquilizer. I think I would have accepted it if offered.

Leading up to surgery I hardly worried about it at all and was actually eager to get to the other side and start recovery. But, there is something sobering about that morning of surgery when it is about to happen. I would not go so far as to call it anxiety for me, just that things get real- it is about to really finally happen.

Once I was in the prep room, there was not much down time. They give you a prep kit, which I was to use on myself- iodine swabs in the nostils and so forth- I recall bumping my cheek on accident with the iodine swab and thinking, "Oh great, now in my recovery room photos I'll have a big dark stain on my face" But, a tissue with some water must have done the job, because there was no such stain.

A few checks of vitals and such and the next thing I know, a nurse comes and tells me: "it's time." Gulp. This is really happening. I will never forget the feeling of being wheeled to the operating theater. You can feel the temperature dropping the closer you get. I asked the nurse if it was my imagination or did it suddenly get cooler- not my imagination, they keep it cool in the theater and the closer we got, the cooler the temperature.

We finally enter the theater. I would be lying if I did not admit that my pulse was a little higher than my normal heart rate at this point. The surgeon and his co-surgeon were not there yet, but his team was busy at work getting me and the room ready- IVs into me and, yes, the dreaded little tray with the scary looking instruments. I tried calm my slight nervousness with some humor and announced: "If anyone is not feeling like they are on their 'A game' and feeling off- you know, spent the weekend in Vegas getting smashed or something, now is the time to speak up. Raise you hand please and you will be dismissed."
They seemed to like the humor. Anyway, I'll keep my day job.

Then, before you know it, comes the mask with the happy gas. The next memory was waking up in recovery feeling great. Really, I felt great the moment I woke up. Well, that is because the anesthesia was still numbing my body, but for a couple of hours it was pretty cool being awake and having zero pain. It was like, "Hey that was easy." Then, sometime later that evening, it was like "Nurse, is it time for my pain pills yet?" lol. The anesthesia does wear off.

 

[AZATADINE]

That's interesting for sure!! No way would I like to have been so alert going in!

Funnily enough, I don't remember having any conversation with anyone about that aspect of the operation. A nurse gave me two tablets to take (around 6.30 in the morning) but I don't recall having a conversation about what they were or what they would do.

I just remember lying down to wait for the orderlies to take me down (scheduled for around 7 or so) and then.....nothing.....until coming around in ICU.

 

[ATHENS1964]

Last night around 20.00 a hospital gave me a pill and told me that my surgery is at 7.30 I slept lightly and in the morning I woke up alone at around 6.00 I called shortly my wife came too, we arranged my things and talked . at 7.00 a hospital came with a stretcher and after I took off my clothes I lay down he covered me and we started. I entered a place that was almost empty with a few machines, where I was welcomed by the anesthesiologist and a doctor in charge of surgery, I had not seen the heart surgeon before.
I asked where I was because I did not look like the place for surgery since I did not even see the surgical projector over the bed. I was told that I would be taken to the operating room after I was drugged, then I woke up at 23.30 without remembering anything else, I immediately moved my toes and hands I looked around that I see normally and I say nice at least I am functional.
I did not have a stroke during the operation, they gave me minimal water and then I slept and woke up at intervals. I had planned in my mind that I could see the time and fortunately a monitor next to me, among others, also showed the time, around 6.00 the surgeon came and explained to me how the surgery went.

 

[Hyp2r]

I was wheeled down to the pre op room just before surgery, absolutely no tranquilizer either the night before or on the day. A nurse came into pre op and talked about holidays and all good things, probably for 10 minutes or so.
One of the surgeons assistants came in and said they were all set to go, looked at me then asked if I could walk in to the theatre. Course I could, so just walked down the corridor and into the theatre. Overwhelmed by the setup and when they asked me to hop up on the table I made a fool of myself by laying down at the wrong end!
One of the surgeons put the 2 IV’s in my arm and then started fiddling around my neck, told him not even to think about it while I was awake.
I was given the anaesthesia and don’t remember anything for 18 hours, although at some stage the ICU nurse got me off the bed and onto a recliner. I remember being extremely tired for the next few hours and 22 hours after going into theatre I was transferred back to the ward.

 

[AZATADINE]

Jeepers, looks like there are different practices in terms of getting to the OR.

I remember nothing whatsoever in my case while others had to hop up onto the table themselves! I prefer my own experience of remembering nothing!

 

[Mister_James]

I remember being wheeled right outside the theater and we did again a pre‐op check...name date of birth, what surgery blah, blah, blah...

Then they wheeled me into the theater and other than the big light there was nothing that I could see.

The anesthesia folks who I had met the night before came over for a chit chat, looked for their favorite veins and we were having a conversation and then I woke up with a tube down my throat and a nurse telling she knows it's uncomfortable and she will remove it in a little bit...that was 8 hours later.

I got my first sponge bath that night.

 

[KLS39]

I was in preop meeting everyone and was in a bit of a panic because I couldn't get my wedding band off. I was wheeled to the operating room and was awake for some time as they prepped me. I was shocked by how calm I was. When they put the mask on my face, I was surprised by how long it felt until I was out. When I came to the next day, I panicked not having thought about having a tube down my throat. The meditation breathing I had practiced before surgery really helped. I also didn't know I would be so filled with fluid that I couldn't bend my fingers. Recovery at 57 was very different than 14 obviously. I had four chest tubes instead of two and had to use a walker!! The pain in my upper back was another surprise. This scar may be longer, but it is thinner and not as noticeable as the thick "T" scar I already had. That was a nice surprise. I wish I had found this group before surgery.

 

[dick0236]

.......... This scar may be longer, but it is thinner and not as noticeable as the thick "T" scar I already had. That was a nice surprise. I wish I had found this group before surgery.

LOL......I've got one of those old scars too, but mine is more like a "Y" and thick. I think they used a "chainsaw". Like you, I could have used the advice and support of a group like this long before I found it.......but better late than never. I'm glad to see another long timer on the forum.

 

[Michael O]

The pain in my upper back was another surprise.

4 months out, and this is probably the worst part of the otherwise successful outcome. Pretty much daily pain from a spot high up between my shoulder blades. Massage isn't helping, and am going to try to get xrays in Jan. It really feels like somehow there's a big tear-away on the spinal attachment of my rhomboids. That hospital bed was a war crime.