K
KristaDeAnn
Hello Everyone,
Im weak, but Im home. I know the strength will come back soon.....Im doing my breathing excercise....constantly...and I have noticed my capacity is already starting to improve.
I was in surgery 3 hours and 50 minutes. My valve was replaced as expected with an ON-X valve. I can hear it ticking now...it doesnt really bother me. I have more noticed myself looking for the tick rather than being annoyed by it.
Well as I was expecting I came out of the anesthesia in a terrible state of pain and with the breathing tube in place.
I feared that breathing tube more than anything else having to do with this surgery...silly me... I remember coming too and realizing I still had the tube in place...I remember thinking to myself "funny I dont really notice it "breathing" for me" I just knew it was in my mouth. The instense dryness of my mouth was WAY more unbearable than that tube ever could be. I have no memory of fighting the tube or trying to get away from it. I do think I put my hand up too it because I remember it being brushed away a couple times.
The Recovery nurse came into my room 2 days ago and said "Do you remember me?" and I said "no" and before she could say any more i told her that I was sorry if I did or said anything bad to her without knowing I did so..she thought that was funny. She said she was my recovery nurse and she said I did VERY well with the surgery she said I was progressing very quickly except in ONE area and the was dealing with the pain. They gave me Thorodol which quickly dropped my blood pressure to dangerously low levels but at the time they were not sure WHY my blood pressure was dropping so low....so they wouldnt give me anything.
I distinctly remember the feeling of "being run OVER by a truck"...but more than that the thirst is what continues to stick out in my mind. Since she couldnt do anything about the pain she took out the breathing tube after an hour in recovery...it seemed like minutes to me....it wasnt that bad. Once she took that out she gave me a sponge on a wand in one hand and a suction device in the other. I do not rememeber what these items look like as I never really saw them.. I just remember they were long and were hard to work with..but I didnt care I would swab with one hand and suck the water out with the other...I was so grateful for that moisture. No one can prepare you for that thirst it was worst than any part of the surgery. I did not get sick from the anesthesia but the liquid was taken away about 12 hours later as I was retaining fluid so I would say THIRSTY stands out the most for me.
My blood pressure continued to drop so I couldnt have any pain medication until they figured out what it was..but you know the immediate moments after surgery get blurrier by the minutes when you go through this. Now it all seems like someone elses dream. I remember really bad pain but I will say that I do think the pain was more caused by the fact that I couldnt relax becuase my chest hurt and I kept curling my shoulders in to try to ease the pain in my chest would just led to more pain..but like I said..it is so blurry now because you dont wake up and remember the details of it...I do remember later that night they brought a 70 year old women into my room that had just come out of surgery and she had a valve replaced and a triple bypass and I remember them asking her.."what is your pain leve between 1 - 10 and she kept saying numbers like 2.....1.....3.... and Im thinking "What kind of surgery did she have...my numbers at the time were 7, 8, 9, and once 10 1/2.... the recovery nurse said that older people dont have the issues with pain that younger people have.
Every single day makes a difference and 3 days after surgery all that is behind you anyway..it wasnt that bad overall. I dont want to do it again...but if i had to I would not fear it like I did this one. So that has got to tell you it is do-able....and worth it!!!
I was horrified the night before surgery when I really needed the comfort of this board and its members and I logged on to find the server down.
But as with every part of this journey I told myself just "be brave" "You can do it"...and I did. Im glad it is over....and Im on the right side of the mountain..so it can only get better but Im really weak and tired right now..so Im going to sign off. Just wanted to let you know I made it....and I will be back in touch soon.
THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, FOR ALL YOUR SUPPORT, PRAYERS, THOUGHTS, AND WELL WISHES....I couldnt reach out to you the night before surgery but I knew you were all there with me!!! ....thanks for everything !!!
KRista
Im weak, but Im home. I know the strength will come back soon.....Im doing my breathing excercise....constantly...and I have noticed my capacity is already starting to improve.
I was in surgery 3 hours and 50 minutes. My valve was replaced as expected with an ON-X valve. I can hear it ticking now...it doesnt really bother me. I have more noticed myself looking for the tick rather than being annoyed by it.
Well as I was expecting I came out of the anesthesia in a terrible state of pain and with the breathing tube in place.
I feared that breathing tube more than anything else having to do with this surgery...silly me... I remember coming too and realizing I still had the tube in place...I remember thinking to myself "funny I dont really notice it "breathing" for me" I just knew it was in my mouth. The instense dryness of my mouth was WAY more unbearable than that tube ever could be. I have no memory of fighting the tube or trying to get away from it. I do think I put my hand up too it because I remember it being brushed away a couple times. The Recovery nurse came into my room 2 days ago and said "Do you remember me?" and I said "no" and before she could say any more i told her that I was sorry if I did or said anything bad to her without knowing I did so..she thought that was funny. She said she was my recovery nurse and she said I did VERY well with the surgery she said I was progressing very quickly except in ONE area and the was dealing with the pain. They gave me Thorodol which quickly dropped my blood pressure to dangerously low levels but at the time they were not sure WHY my blood pressure was dropping so low....so they wouldnt give me anything.
I distinctly remember the feeling of "being run OVER by a truck"...but more than that the thirst is what continues to stick out in my mind. Since she couldnt do anything about the pain she took out the breathing tube after an hour in recovery...it seemed like minutes to me....it wasnt that bad. Once she took that out she gave me a sponge on a wand in one hand and a suction device in the other. I do not rememeber what these items look like as I never really saw them.. I just remember they were long and were hard to work with..but I didnt care I would swab with one hand and suck the water out with the other...I was so grateful for that moisture. No one can prepare you for that thirst it was worst than any part of the surgery. I did not get sick from the anesthesia but the liquid was taken away about 12 hours later as I was retaining fluid so I would say THIRSTY stands out the most for me.
My blood pressure continued to drop so I couldnt have any pain medication until they figured out what it was..but you know the immediate moments after surgery get blurrier by the minutes when you go through this. Now it all seems like someone elses dream. I remember really bad pain but I will say that I do think the pain was more caused by the fact that I couldnt relax becuase my chest hurt and I kept curling my shoulders in to try to ease the pain in my chest would just led to more pain..but like I said..it is so blurry now because you dont wake up and remember the details of it...I do remember later that night they brought a 70 year old women into my room that had just come out of surgery and she had a valve replaced and a triple bypass and I remember them asking her.."what is your pain leve between 1 - 10 and she kept saying numbers like 2.....1.....3.... and Im thinking "What kind of surgery did she have...my numbers at the time were 7, 8, 9, and once 10 1/2.... the recovery nurse said that older people dont have the issues with pain that younger people have.
Every single day makes a difference and 3 days after surgery all that is behind you anyway..it wasnt that bad overall. I dont want to do it again...but if i had to I would not fear it like I did this one. So that has got to tell you it is do-able....and worth it!!!
I was horrified the night before surgery when I really needed the comfort of this board and its members and I logged on to find the server down.
But as with every part of this journey I told myself just "be brave" "You can do it"...and I did.
Im glad it is over....and Im on the right side of the mountain..so it can only get better but Im really weak and tired right now..so Im going to sign off. Just wanted to let you know I made it....and I will be back in touch soon.THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, FOR ALL YOUR SUPPORT, PRAYERS, THOUGHTS, AND WELL WISHES....I couldnt reach out to you the night before surgery but I knew you were all there with me!!!
....thanks for everything !!!KRista
