Dmeehan update

[dmeehan]

evening day four: all i can say is... 'wow'. still going strong. no pain meds, good mood, eating great, positive spirit and no pain (even without meds). lung tube out today, first shower (he is appreciative, and so are we). the loud roomie took off, but not before one last gotcha on his way out-- let's just say there is no dignity at the hospital. he is still horribly weak, and the shower kicked his booty.

walking around the floor already, and climbing the stairs tomorrow. truly, no rest for the wicked... i mean, weary... no rest for the weary. monday is an echo and then home!!!

of course i caught a cold the other night-- at the hospital no doubt, so i haven't been able to spend the time with him as planned. i can't go around him-- he is absolutely not out of the danger zone for pneumonia, among other horrible things. if i can't clear this up by monday, then i'll have to find a place to stay and we'll have to find someone to come stay with him. somehow this didn't make the contingency list.

all said, still so thankful.


-mike

 

[Greg a]

Mike , the hospital may be able to provide masks for you to take home if not some drug stores or medical supply outlets can help....once again thanks for the update

 

[normofthenorth]

Did they pull out his chest tube(s) early, like "day 1", and then they had to re-insert one because a lung collapsed? Mine stayed in for at least 24 hours, I think. I never saw them put them in, because it was while I was still under.

My pain experience was very similar, shockingly little of it. I'd had 3 earlier surgeries, none of them NEARLY as invasive, and ALL of them were more painful(!).

My experience with "it was worse than we thought, you're lucky you made it to the OR" was also remarkably similar. At my (prestigious) university, they used to joke that way more than 50% of the students were above average. I wonder if this is a similar thing -- "I bet you say that to ALL the guys. . ." If not, all those pre-op tests tests aren't nearly good enough at spotting valves that are ready to "blow"!!

Good luck with your cold, Mike!

 

[Jkm7]

So happy to hear how well 'dm' is doing.
Very sorry about your cold, Mike, and hope you fell better soon. There's a lot of cold and flu going around the Boston area lately.

Fingers crossed 'dm' gets to come home Monday.

 

[dmeehan]

evening day five: more good news today... his team of surgeons showed up last night and all agreed that he was 'exceeding expectations.' they said he could leave the hospital today (!), but his cardiologist insists on a final echo before he is discharged. in other good news, no distorted palate (yet another common side effect).



still very little pain (and no pain meds), although very weak-- everything wipe him out. he has permission to walk around by himself now, and is ready to leave. which he'll get to do tomorrow

the bad news is that my cold precludes him from coming home-- if he gets sick it could be deadly, so he can't go anywhere near me or the house. he'll be staying at his folks' house until it is safe for him to come home. i still can't believe this happened. hopefully this week i'll get past it and the housekeepers will give the house a good scrub down so he can come home.

i guess this is my last post... he'll be back in action tomorrow, so it's all up to him. this board has meant a lot to him, especially during the lead up to his surgery. thank you to everyone here for sharing your story, and creating this online community. it's been priceless.

best,
mike

 

[dmeehan]

Did they pull out his chest tube(s) early, like "day 1", and then they had to re-insert one because a lung collapsed? Mine stayed in for at least 24 hours, I think. I never saw them put them in, because it was while I was still under.

My pain experience was very similar, shockingly little of it. I'd had 3 earlier surgeries, none of them NEARLY as invasive, and ALL of them were more painful(!).

My experience with "it was worse than we thought, you're lucky you made it to the OR" was also remarkably similar. At my (prestigious) university, they used to joke that way more than 50% of the students were above average. I wonder if this is a similar thing -- "I bet you say that to ALL the guys. . ." If not, all those pre-op tests tests aren't nearly good enough at spotting valves that are ready to "blow"!!

Good luck with your cold, Mike!

no... they didn't pull it too early, it wasn't inserted until the lung collapsed. just one of those things.

 

[Greg a]

Once again ...Thank you Mike

 

[normofthenorth]

And here I thought the (sideways like a smiley, rotated 90 degrees to the right) "--- :" signature of a full thoracotomy was our universal recognition symbol -- like the membership card to "the zipper club"! I didn't know that some people get out of the OR without drainage tubes, and the ":" part of the signature!

Live and learn.

Thanks, Mike, and good luck to both of you.

 

[epstns]

Derek - I left the OR with all 3 drains in place. They came out, along with the Foley catheter, over the next week. The final drain and the Foley came out on Friday mid-day. For me, I am still a lab project in process with meds and discharge date still not known.

I was warned that a nicked or collapsed lung was a possibility in my pacemaker implantation, but honestly it didn't slow me down. I just asked "Where do I sign?" and said Let's go!

 

[Hockey Heart]

Thank you for the fantastic summary of his hospital stay after the procedure!