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Surgery was 8/8/07 @0830. Got home 8/12 @ 11:AM. Got to celebrate my 46th b-day in the hospital. They even supplied cake and balloons. Surgery went well with just a 24-hour delay to check a "shadow" on my chest x-ray. I'm bored so I will detail surgery as best I can.
I arrived at 0500 on the 8th and was quickly admitted. Then up to Telemetry for pre surgery shower and shave. At about 0800 I was wheeled to pre-op a staging area where people awaiting various surgeries were placed. There were about 3 others here, none for OHS. I lost it here as the emotions were flowing and I wanted out. The anesthesiologist came out and explained what was going to occur. I reminded him to tell surgeon that I wanted tissue. The head nurse was quickly on his heels and it was off to the operating room. I was expecting a super "clean" room instead I'm wheeled into a room that looked a clean garage; there was even a Craftsman rollaway along the wall. I met the "team" and joked about the garage feel of the place. They took me off my nice padded bed and placed on the surgery table, a metal slab? covered with a sheet. My arms were then spread apart and .......... I woke at around 3-4 in the afternoon in ICU with the ventilator tube still in my throat. That damn tube was in my throat for another 12 hours, my blood sugar was off so they could not pull it. I was conscious and able to communicate via hand signals. I was dying of thirst, by far the worst experience of the surgery.
At about 4:AM I finally got the ventilator tube pulled and received ice chips. I ate them too quickly and ended up vomiting, very, very, painful. I was over that in about an hour when they forced me to sit up in a chair next to my bed. I sat for 20 minutes or so then back to bed. By the time my family arrived at about 9:AM I ran into them in the hall in ICU, I was up and walking. My 11-year-old daughters face lit up when she saw me in the hall, she knew her dad was going to be ok. By 11AM I was on my way to Telemetry where I spent the next 2 days, uneventfully. The RN?s and CNA?s were great people who need to be much more appreciated They missed a couple of blood draws on me and as soon as I found out those blood draws were my ticket to leave I made sure they didn?t miss again. Surgeon came in 3 times to check on me-on his own time, he was on days off ,he?s a car aficionado and Hot August Nights was going on, he was very hesitant to put my Magna 3000 TFX in, he wanted to do a St? Judes. In echos?s it was thought my valve was heavily calcified but upon removal the surgeon said it showed signs of a classic BVA with rheumatic fever damage. My parents could recall no history of such an event but the surgeon said I could have had it or Strept for even 3-4 days and not known it. Anyhow I?m now hoping that lack of calcification is a good indication that my Magna 3000 will last longer. Surgeon indicated that I would not have made it another year and ?they would have found me on trail with a raccoon eating me?
I?m now at home taking it easy. Definitely have the times full of energy and those where I?m totally drained. I?m walking the stairs, multi-level home, and sleeping in my own bed. I was on Percocet for the first day and a half and on Vicodin ever since. I have not medicated today but I do feel a dull weight on my chest. The incision is amazingly narrow. I?m simply blown away at how good I feel. The worst part was those first 12 hours with the respirator tube but it?s been up, up, and away ever since. Another surgeon who assisted with the surgery is insisting that I ride The Flume Trail, Lake Tahoe?s most infamous mountain bike ride, with him in mid October. I will be there!!
This website educated me tremendously about AVR. Contributions from others are the best thing out there. Thanks to all of you who support this wonderful place.
I arrived at 0500 on the 8th and was quickly admitted. Then up to Telemetry for pre surgery shower and shave. At about 0800 I was wheeled to pre-op a staging area where people awaiting various surgeries were placed. There were about 3 others here, none for OHS. I lost it here as the emotions were flowing and I wanted out. The anesthesiologist came out and explained what was going to occur. I reminded him to tell surgeon that I wanted tissue. The head nurse was quickly on his heels and it was off to the operating room. I was expecting a super "clean" room instead I'm wheeled into a room that looked a clean garage; there was even a Craftsman rollaway along the wall. I met the "team" and joked about the garage feel of the place. They took me off my nice padded bed and placed on the surgery table, a metal slab? covered with a sheet. My arms were then spread apart and .......... I woke at around 3-4 in the afternoon in ICU with the ventilator tube still in my throat. That damn tube was in my throat for another 12 hours, my blood sugar was off so they could not pull it. I was conscious and able to communicate via hand signals. I was dying of thirst, by far the worst experience of the surgery.
At about 4:AM I finally got the ventilator tube pulled and received ice chips. I ate them too quickly and ended up vomiting, very, very, painful. I was over that in about an hour when they forced me to sit up in a chair next to my bed. I sat for 20 minutes or so then back to bed. By the time my family arrived at about 9:AM I ran into them in the hall in ICU, I was up and walking. My 11-year-old daughters face lit up when she saw me in the hall, she knew her dad was going to be ok. By 11AM I was on my way to Telemetry where I spent the next 2 days, uneventfully. The RN?s and CNA?s were great people who need to be much more appreciated They missed a couple of blood draws on me and as soon as I found out those blood draws were my ticket to leave I made sure they didn?t miss again. Surgeon came in 3 times to check on me-on his own time, he was on days off ,he?s a car aficionado and Hot August Nights was going on, he was very hesitant to put my Magna 3000 TFX in, he wanted to do a St? Judes. In echos?s it was thought my valve was heavily calcified but upon removal the surgeon said it showed signs of a classic BVA with rheumatic fever damage. My parents could recall no history of such an event but the surgeon said I could have had it or Strept for even 3-4 days and not known it. Anyhow I?m now hoping that lack of calcification is a good indication that my Magna 3000 will last longer. Surgeon indicated that I would not have made it another year and ?they would have found me on trail with a raccoon eating me?
I?m now at home taking it easy. Definitely have the times full of energy and those where I?m totally drained. I?m walking the stairs, multi-level home, and sleeping in my own bed. I was on Percocet for the first day and a half and on Vicodin ever since. I have not medicated today but I do feel a dull weight on my chest. The incision is amazingly narrow. I?m simply blown away at how good I feel. The worst part was those first 12 hours with the respirator tube but it?s been up, up, and away ever since. Another surgeon who assisted with the surgery is insisting that I ride The Flume Trail, Lake Tahoe?s most infamous mountain bike ride, with him in mid October. I will be there!!
This website educated me tremendously about AVR. Contributions from others are the best thing out there. Thanks to all of you who support this wonderful place.
