Home with some questions

[SPMJR]

First of all let me say hello, I lurked around here a little bit pre-surgery, but was not bit by the posting bug until now. I can flesh out my story a little more over the next few days but for now the quick story with some questions. . .

I'm a 30 year old male, born with a bicuspid aorta and a coarctation. Coarc was fixed at 18 months old, and I had my BAV, root, and ascending aorta replaced last Friday at Kaiser SF. I had no symptoms and at the end of the day, it was the dilated aortic root that was the real motivator for the surgery.

Everything went completely smooth and I have been home since Wednesday and the following things have come up:

1. Hot flashes, I'm like a 60 year woman. I get about three hours of sleep and night, then the hot flashes roll in, sleep for an hour wake up drenched in sweet, sleep for an hour, wake up drenched in sweat, so forth and so on. My pain meds are oxy if that helps.

2. Temp variations, nothing has gone over 100 degrees, but it seems like my temp is always 99.5, 98.9, 100, etc. Is this normal?

3. If I get hit with a coughing fit, one of my chest drainage tube incisions seeps a little yellowish, clear liquid. I just dab it away with some sterile gauze, but I was wondering if anyone else had this happen.


Thanks,

Steve

 

[Superman]

Welcome aboard and good luck with your recovery. I'm five weeks post op myself. It was my second OHS. I'm 36. They got my valve the first time at 17 and this time they did the aorta and put in a new valve as well.

The fevers came and went for the first couple weeks I was home. I was on Tramadol for pain. Tried Vicodin but didn't like it. I only take tylenol as needed now. Sweating at night was quite common. It it tied to your fevers. You'll likely notice sweating shortly after taking medication as it is your fever breaking. I just put a towel on my recliner and slept on that.

I would guess that some seepage is normal from any open wounds. I know I had a bit. The things to watch out for are redness and swelling in the skin around the incisions.

 

[Danny]

Hello and welcome...im 5 weeks out now also, and i had some of the same things. Sleep was an issue for a few weeks...and the night sweats only come every now and then. Like others have said on here, i think its the bodies way of getting rid of the anastesia, and other things. I had a low grade fever also, but that is gone now. I think what your having all sounds normal, but if you need reassurance, contact your cardio. Good luck with everything, and dont be a stranger.

 

[billr]

Hi Steve --

I am not a medical professional--

I was home for three days when my wound started to ooze, drain a clear liquid tinged with yellow. My temperature was never higher than 100.1 and consistently 99.6 or higher. However, my normal temperature is 97.4-97.8. Your discharge instructions no doubt say (very common instructions) to notify your doctor if your temperature reaches 101. I think discharge instructions should NOT be an absolute (101) but should be a rise of so many degrees over your NORMAL range. Do you know what your normal temperature range is???

I would not mess around with this. If you are concerned CALL your doctor.

You could have an infection which comes in two varieties: surface and deep sternum. Surface are not too bad but left untreated can turn into a deep sternum infection, usually caused by the aureus strain of staph. You do NOT want a deep sternum infection. Even with immediate hospitalization, I came VERY close to dying from a deep sternum infection. Long hospital stay was involved plus 30 days of home IV antibiotics which just ended this last Tuesday. And I STILL have a 5% chance of the infection returning even today.

Please trust me, you don't want a deep sternum infection. And if you are unfortunate to have one, you want to be in the hospital as soon as possible.

Again, if you are concerned call your doctor. It is far better being an alarmist regarding this type of infection than not.

If you (or anyone else) have any questions regarding wound infections (happens between 1-4% of OHS in the US), don't hesitate to ask.

Best regards--
Bill

PS: Those that are awaiting surgery should know what their normal temperature range is so that you know what is normal/high for YOU.

 

[Ross]

Wow, it sounds like you've had heart surgery!

Everything mentioned is Par for the course.

The hot flashes will go away eventually, so will the slight fever that seems to hang around a while, the pus deal should be watched for color change, but sounds normal at this point. If it suddenly changes color, becomes more pronounced or more of it and you get a fever over 100F, then you need to be seen asap.

 

[AgilityDog]

The hot flashes can be caused by the narcotics, if you are on tylenol 3 for pain, or some other opiate derivative drug. Like Oxy!
Also the general insult to your body !

You got out of the hospital very quickly, so you are pretty fragile still. I concur with the "when in doubt, check it out." At least CALL your doctor about the drainage and temperature if you are concerned. Mine never minded all my worried phone calls - he has a great nursing staff!

 

[BlindFaith]

I'm almost 8 weeks post-op and also had the hot & cold temps during the first few weeks along with sleep issues. These issues slowed considerably after 2 or 3 weeks. Everything settles down over time. Did not have any issues with the wounds.

 

[LuckyGuy]

I didn't have hot flashes or fevers, and I certainly didn't have anything oozing from incisions, but I did have night sweats.

They were extreme enough that I could literally wring the sweat from the sheets in the morning. But they did go away within 3-4 weeks.

I dunno, but if anything were oozing out of my recent surgical wounds I would definitely call the doctor. Better safe than sorry.

 

[Lily]

Something else I was wondering from your post was about your coughing. Do you regularly have a cough or is this something new?

I'd call the doctor about the yellow seepage. Hopefully it's nothing but better to be safe than sorry and doctors surely expect a few phone calls from post OHS patients. I don't recall having yellow seepage from either of my two drain holes.

For me, I had the sweats, but cold and not hot. And my temp was on the low side, not high.

Not to worry you but it does seem to me, from what I've read here on this site over the last 6+ years that post-op complications are not uncommon. So I think it's best to report things to your doctor and ask them what they want you to do.

BTW, did your surgeon give you a spirometer and if so are you keeping up with the breathing exercises? It's important.

Best wishes to you, Steve.