Fourth Day

[Seagal]

Husband had his OHS on Tuesday morning to replace the aortic valve and do a coronary bypass graft. He was in ICU and transferred to Telemetry/Cardiac where he is today. All tubes, drains, catheters and wires are out and he is walking well but not much of an appetite. Today was started on coumadin to try to help with his AF, along with amiodarone. He chose a tissue valve so he would not have to be on blood thinners, but will do what is suggested to help his recovery. The doctor said he wanted his hb at or under 100 and it is 120 now (at rest). There is also a complaint that he went from 182 pounds pre-surgery to 196 post and how to deal with that.

It is rather confusing, the surgeon said it is natural for the heart to be a bit irritable after such a surgery, but the dr. he saw today (never met before) made it sound like a really major concern. Have no idea what other options there are for AF, so will go with what is offered or until we learn more.

We are glad the surgery is over, the surgeon said the valve was in really bad shape and it was good he had it replaced. No wonder he was extremely fatigued after a day of exercise, yard work and normal stuff.

I appreciate all the posts on the forum which gives me a lot of encouragement and insight into what we are experiencing and will going forward.

 

[Paleowoman]

Hi Seagal - it's early days for your husband, four days is very, very soon after surgery. The weight increase after surgery will be due to all the fluids they pump into him during surgery - they will be wanting these to go and usually give a diuretic to help with that. They will be checking your husband's sodium levels to see what's happening too. I think from personal experience that the opiate pain killers appear to hold on to some of that fluid - when I came off mine due to side effects I lost so much fluid in just a couple of days that my sodium levels went too low ! It is natural for the heart to be "irritable" after surgery - I do hope your husbands AF settles as he should feel better without that, but it's not uncommon following surgery. All the best to you both.

 

[honeybunny]

Ditto to everything Anne said. The surgeons handled organs that were not intended to be touched. That and being on the heart-lung machine takes a toll on the body. Sounds to me that his recovery is par for the course. Others who had to deal with AF post op will pop in with additional reassurance/advice. Sending positive energy your way.

 

[Seagal]

Husband came home on May 1st, tired of course, but doing so very well. No AF and hr is in the 80's as opposed to 120 in hospital. He is walking laps around the backyard and today we took the first walk out the front door and down the street. He rode the stationary bike for 20 minutes including warm-up and cool-down. Uses his heart pillow when he coughs, does breathing exercises and takes his meds am & pm. We are so blessed! He has not had any pain nor taken any pain meds. We will have the home health nurse for six weeks which means we won't have to drive to the lab for bloodwork for the INR. He has lost all but 2 pounds of his 22 pound gain.

I guess it will take some time to get the time clock back to normal, hard to get sleep pattern regulated. But, he is amazing!

 

[honeybunny]

Wonderful! And dont forget that YOU are amazing too

 

[epstns]

Don't get too concerned about regulating his sleep cycle. Between all the "insults" of surgery and the effects of various meds, his sleep may be erratic for some weeks. Mine was quite erratic for at least the first month. Since I was not yet back to work, I didn't really worry about it. If I was up during the night, I just made sure I got a good nap during the day. Eventually things settle down and become normalized.

One day at a time.

 

[Seagal]

Thank everyone!

It is 17 days P.O. and husband is doing excellent. HR is less than 100, we are hoping to eliminate the warfarin in the next month. He is an amazing fella and doing so much better than I would have ever imagined. No paiin pills, no pain, very little coughing and when he does, he hugs the pillow. Rides his stationaru bike daily and walks in the yard. Looks like we will dance at our 60th anniversary in July, just as the surgeon said we would

He is using melatonin to re-regulate his sleep cycle, he is concerned re sleep..we are working on that.