Any Post Valve Surgery Hospital Stay Tips?

[Guyswell]

My surgery was out of town so my wife and I took our laptop to the hospital and used Skype to keep in touch with the kids back home. Surfing the web helped us pass the time.

 

[triff]

spending a week in pyjamas and robe was the last thing I wanted to do; I wasn't going to be sick, and that's what sick people do. If you are of a similar mindset, consider sweatpants and large t-shirts instead of a robe and pyjamas.

Yep that's very good advice and some I should have taken myself! My MMVR (due to infective endocarditis) happened in the middle of a 7 week stay in two hospitals and after three weeks on broad spectrum IV that didn't work, my head was firmly up my arse until they found the right antibiotic over a week after surgery. Sounds daft now but it was only when that started working that I even remembered I could wear my own clothes. By then I desperately wanted to be home and realised one day in a flash of revelation that as long as I kept acting like a patient, they'd keep treating me like one. I think it was about the fourth time I'd gone missing for an extended period (obviously I was in the pub with some mates, drinking OJ and lemonade of course) that they decided it was probably time to let me go home.

So yeah, take some comfy clothes that aren't pyjamas! The more active looking, the better. Do as much walking as you can post-surgery because you'll get your strength back a lot quicker and vastly reduce the chance of complications. I found Facebook invaluable in keeping in touch with friends/keeping a sense of social interaction and letting people know how things were going without having to repeat the same story 50 times. I didn't feel like reading at all (even though people kept bringing me books) but I'm pretty sure that was the infection's doing. I had my laptop security locked to my table so video games were an option, but again only for short periods because my attention span was pretty shot. A mate brought me a hard drive full of films which kept me occupied nicely through many a long night or maybe get involved with a TV series you've been meaning to watch for a while. Earplugs might be useful depending who you're sharing a ward with... Yes, fat bald man in bay 2 - I'm looking at you.

 

[coffeelover]

I brought my CD players and headset, music CDs, a comfy black eyemask and a notebook to write down stuff like guests,calls,MD visits,etc...And some comfy pj bottoms.No need for books,etc...I took very little.
My music (Enya) really helped me relax and rest very nicely! And the black eyemask blocked all of the light in the room which was nice for naps.
As others have said the main focus is getting your strength back and WALKING! As soon as you are able walk,Walk,WALK!

 

[triff]

Oh yeah, eye mask, top tip!

 

[maisiejane]

I have made a card with a collage of a photo of dh, ds, and me and dh on holiday - I'll put this on my bedside. I've also loaded on to my iPod my favourite music to listen to as I know it will relax me. And I'll get dh to bring me my laptop when I'm out of high dependancy so I can watch my favourite DVDs - I hate TV so won't be watching that.

Hi Anne, Will definitely be taking my tablet with me, that is a really good idea about down loading your favorite music I will get on to that straight away, thanks. Deb x

 

[Lynlw]

Hello all-
I scheduled my Aortic Valve Surgery for January and would like to know if you guys have any tips to make the hospital stay that much better.

I dont know if you found them, but at the top of both the pre and post surgery forums are some pretty useful "stickies' Heres on that has alot of things people took or wished the took to the hospital
http://www.valvereplacement.org/forums/showthread.php?13283-what-to-take-to-the-hospital-a-checklist somethings are a little out dated like my suggesion to take cables for both phone and compter plug in things if you take a laptop sice most hospital these days are wiffi some people like to take everything , others nothing much at all, but you might get some good idea, like chapstick since your lips probably will get very dry you might not think about

 

[Rocky]

Planning on being there a while pellicle? (This from a person who bought a 1,000 piece jigsaw puzzle of white swans on a dark lake, what was I thinking, and took two weeks to make the border - then gave up.)

Back to the topic - for me personally, spending a week in pyjamas and robe was the last thing I wanted to do; I wasn't going to be sick, and that's what sick people do. If you are of a similar mindset, consider sweatpants and large t-shirts instead of a robe and pyjamas. I often got mistaken for a visitor instead of a patient on my hourly walks, and I kinda liked that!

I took a sport jacket, a comfortable pair of pants and dress shoes. And put them on every time I went for my walk, even if I was just going down the hall. I agree with SkiGirl, I was NOT sick and did not want anyone, including myself, to think I was. I did not sleep much at all, so often I would be up walking around the ward in the middle of the night looking like I was heading out dancing. It was great for the spirit.

A laptop, with a DVD player and all 7 years of The West Wing. And if you can make it work in the hospital, get Netflix. If you are not good at sleeping in a hospital, 24 hours can be a long day. Reading alone will get boring.

I had earplugs, but they did not work for me. When I put them in, I could hear my mechanical valve go bum-pity bump, and that would keep me awake. The sound deadening headphones would be a good choice, if they work for you. A hospital is a very noisy place, even in the middle of the night.

Walk, walk, walk....and use the breathing thingy as often as you can. The more you do both, and the sooner you get a bowel movement, the sooner you go home, and the sooner you can get some real rest.