mamanordy
Active member
Hello everyone! So sorry I have not posted before now. It has been a whirlwind of activity around here. My AVR surgery was Oct 22. I spent 12 days in the hospital. During the surgery I got a pneumothorax (collapsed lung). I woke up in ICU with a horrible pain in my right breast, the chest tube. I will have to say I was quite out of it the entire stay in the ICU. I wasnt in a lot of pain per se but the entire ordeal just wore me down.
The surgery was successful. I now have a St Jude Masters Valve Conduit, my BAV is gone and so is my aneursym. When I got home, I had to have someone with me 24-7 for 2 weeks, per my surgeon because of the risk I had in possibly collapsing a lung again. I have no idea why I got this. Anyway, I felt tortured while there, I had to have a picc line, they tried twice, they had to take me to cath lab to do it, the chest tube, the swan, so many things. I was super tired and so glad to get home.
Believe it or not, the only pain I have really had is my breast where the chest tube was inserted and in my neck where the picc line was. Yesterday was my first day without a "babysitter". Today I went with my hubby to his work for a few hrs to get out of the house.
I am having some weird things happen when I sleep or nap. I make a strange noise like I cant breathe and I wake up. It is like a stutter step or something. Very odd.
Sleeping is still hard. The first few nights I slept on my sofa. Then I wanted to try my bed. Dh put some pillows on strategically and I slept ok, but tossed and turned a lot. Each night has been better though. The biggest problem is the breast and the neck. When I wake up I feel as if someone has tried to stab me or strangle me. Saw my surgeon yesterday. He is pleased with my progress. He said my breast hurt because when they put the chest tube in, the tube more than likely messed up some nerves, and it will take a while to heal. Yee ah!
So glad I have you all to come back to!!!
The surgery was successful. I now have a St Jude Masters Valve Conduit, my BAV is gone and so is my aneursym. When I got home, I had to have someone with me 24-7 for 2 weeks, per my surgeon because of the risk I had in possibly collapsing a lung again. I have no idea why I got this. Anyway, I felt tortured while there, I had to have a picc line, they tried twice, they had to take me to cath lab to do it, the chest tube, the swan, so many things. I was super tired and so glad to get home.
Believe it or not, the only pain I have really had is my breast where the chest tube was inserted and in my neck where the picc line was. Yesterday was my first day without a "babysitter". Today I went with my hubby to his work for a few hrs to get out of the house.
I am having some weird things happen when I sleep or nap. I make a strange noise like I cant breathe and I wake up. It is like a stutter step or something. Very odd.
Sleeping is still hard. The first few nights I slept on my sofa. Then I wanted to try my bed. Dh put some pillows on strategically and I slept ok, but tossed and turned a lot. Each night has been better though. The biggest problem is the breast and the neck. When I wake up I feel as if someone has tried to stab me or strangle me. Saw my surgeon yesterday. He is pleased with my progress. He said my breast hurt because when they put the chest tube in, the tube more than likely messed up some nerves, and it will take a while to heal. Yee ah!
So glad I have you all to come back to!!!
