T in YVR
Well-known member
Well, I made it. After some false starts I got the call on Monday and they told me I was 'next up' on Tuesday Oct. 1. So I am now 3 days post op. I am feeling pretty good, but it was not without a few hiccups - literally. Here's my experience with it. Hopefully it helps others that are waiting.
Day 1:
At the hospital at 6:30am. I was anxious and excited to get it done, but not afraid. Hospital staff at St. Paul's were awesome. They make you feel very comfortable every step of the way. The surgeon is top notch and seems to get accolades at every turn from people he works with. Just an amazing surgeon. Everyone kept saying that "He was the only one they would want to operate on them". Very funny guy too. I asked him how he was doing when I saw him about an hour before the surgery and said he was "ok, but pretty hung over, but should be ok for the surgery"
the ICU nurses laughed when I told them. They said he recently did a heart transplant and joked with the team that he hadn't done one in a while, but if he gets stuck they can just look it up on Wikipedia. Helps loosen the tension....
They knocked me out in the surgery room - not before entering. Quite the high tech theater. Kept thinking of that Seinfeld episode with Junior Mints. (Google it if you dont know what that means - its on youtube. very funny). Surgery lasted 2.5 hours. However they brought me to the ICU afterwards and saw a bit too much fluid/blood draining so 1 hour post op they took me back into the OR an opened me back up (2 for 1!) Everything looked ok, but they had to give me platelets to improve my clotting a bit. They were able to avoid having to do a blood transfusion though. This is exactly why they keep you knocked or for a few hours post surgery - in case they have to go back in.
Woke up pretty groggy from the surgery but in good spirits. They gave me ice chips for dry mouth and slowly took water with pills. Learned very quickly that any water shortly after surgery can be a bad thing with the anaesthesia. Got horrible nausea and threw up and realized how much that little chest pillow becomes your best friend. Incredibly painful. Gravol helped ease this. They took all oxygen off of me about 6 hrs post op. My O2 efficiency was 96% which was good. Coughed up stuff from my lungs which they said was expected and good - the need to practise coughing can be a bit painful though. Also, not sure if it was some combo of meds, water etc, but had about 6 short bouts of hiccups. My god they can be painful little body jerks after AVR.....slept about 2 or 3 hours on half a sleeping pill.
Oddly enough they did not shave my whole chest pre surgery. Just a strip where the incision area was going to be. I woke up covered in the reddish/pink sterile cleaner they put on you...forgot about that part.
Not much of a sleep that night but that's to be expected. The ICU team was wonderful and extremely attentive.
Day 2:
Moved to cardiac ward and out of ICU after about 21 hours (late the next morning). The Dr in ICU looked over all my vitals and they were all exceptional. He asked the nurse jokingly if I had surgery yet. The day started high and felt good, but finished low and felt tired with more pain. Lots of hydromorphol (dilotid) and Tylenol. Also had morphine on day 1 but not day 2. Slept about 5 or 6 hrs after a full sleeping pill. Chest tubes came out First thing today. The pain level dropped off significantly when they pulled those out. I didn't realize they have about 7 or 8" of tube inside you. Had some bruising and pain by the neck IV in the jugular when they removed it. Got up and did some marching on the spot and a few other basic movements, but no walking yet. Too hard with a catheter.....
Day 3:
Best day yet. They tell me I'm making great progress. Still a fair bit of pain in the top of the incision and in my neck and shoulders. I find it painful at the base of my neck/top of the incision when getting in and out of bed. Also hurts a bit by the breathing tube holes. The drugs are helping though. Catheter out (a huge relief) and 3 laps of the cardiac ward today and some exercise training. INR is too low: 1.2. They started me on Coumadin but are also using heparin as a bridge until the Coumadin kicks in. My incision leaked a bit so needed to be redressed since its still an infection risk. Can't handle visiting people for more than an hour before getting tired.
My resting heart rate started off in the high 60's/low 70's but is now in hi 80's/low 90's. No beta blockers yet but they're considering it
I've had no effects of pump head from what I can tell. Memory and concentration seem ok, other than being very tired at times.
I'm absolutely convinced that my health/fitness level going into this is helping me on the recovery side.
It turned out I had a true bicuspid valve (originally thought to be functionally bicuspid with 2 of the 3 calcified leaflets) My valve is an On-X 25mm. I can sure hear it click, but I think I'll get used to it. Sure hope so...! I would not want to do this again with tissue in x years. 1 and done, but its a personal choice.
Hopefully the recovery continues to get better.
Tony
Day 1:
At the hospital at 6:30am. I was anxious and excited to get it done, but not afraid. Hospital staff at St. Paul's were awesome. They make you feel very comfortable every step of the way. The surgeon is top notch and seems to get accolades at every turn from people he works with. Just an amazing surgeon. Everyone kept saying that "He was the only one they would want to operate on them". Very funny guy too. I asked him how he was doing when I saw him about an hour before the surgery and said he was "ok, but pretty hung over, but should be ok for the surgery"
the ICU nurses laughed when I told them. They said he recently did a heart transplant and joked with the team that he hadn't done one in a while, but if he gets stuck they can just look it up on Wikipedia. Helps loosen the tension....They knocked me out in the surgery room - not before entering. Quite the high tech theater. Kept thinking of that Seinfeld episode with Junior Mints. (Google it if you dont know what that means - its on youtube. very funny). Surgery lasted 2.5 hours. However they brought me to the ICU afterwards and saw a bit too much fluid/blood draining so 1 hour post op they took me back into the OR an opened me back up (2 for 1!) Everything looked ok, but they had to give me platelets to improve my clotting a bit. They were able to avoid having to do a blood transfusion though. This is exactly why they keep you knocked or for a few hours post surgery - in case they have to go back in.
Woke up pretty groggy from the surgery but in good spirits. They gave me ice chips for dry mouth and slowly took water with pills. Learned very quickly that any water shortly after surgery can be a bad thing with the anaesthesia. Got horrible nausea and threw up and realized how much that little chest pillow becomes your best friend. Incredibly painful. Gravol helped ease this. They took all oxygen off of me about 6 hrs post op. My O2 efficiency was 96% which was good. Coughed up stuff from my lungs which they said was expected and good - the need to practise coughing can be a bit painful though. Also, not sure if it was some combo of meds, water etc, but had about 6 short bouts of hiccups. My god they can be painful little body jerks after AVR.....slept about 2 or 3 hours on half a sleeping pill.
Oddly enough they did not shave my whole chest pre surgery. Just a strip where the incision area was going to be. I woke up covered in the reddish/pink sterile cleaner they put on you...forgot about that part.
Not much of a sleep that night but that's to be expected. The ICU team was wonderful and extremely attentive.
Day 2:
Moved to cardiac ward and out of ICU after about 21 hours (late the next morning). The Dr in ICU looked over all my vitals and they were all exceptional. He asked the nurse jokingly if I had surgery yet. The day started high and felt good, but finished low and felt tired with more pain. Lots of hydromorphol (dilotid) and Tylenol. Also had morphine on day 1 but not day 2. Slept about 5 or 6 hrs after a full sleeping pill. Chest tubes came out First thing today. The pain level dropped off significantly when they pulled those out. I didn't realize they have about 7 or 8" of tube inside you. Had some bruising and pain by the neck IV in the jugular when they removed it. Got up and did some marching on the spot and a few other basic movements, but no walking yet. Too hard with a catheter.....
Day 3:
Best day yet. They tell me I'm making great progress. Still a fair bit of pain in the top of the incision and in my neck and shoulders. I find it painful at the base of my neck/top of the incision when getting in and out of bed. Also hurts a bit by the breathing tube holes. The drugs are helping though. Catheter out (a huge relief) and 3 laps of the cardiac ward today and some exercise training. INR is too low: 1.2. They started me on Coumadin but are also using heparin as a bridge until the Coumadin kicks in. My incision leaked a bit so needed to be redressed since its still an infection risk. Can't handle visiting people for more than an hour before getting tired.
My resting heart rate started off in the high 60's/low 70's but is now in hi 80's/low 90's. No beta blockers yet but they're considering it
I've had no effects of pump head from what I can tell. Memory and concentration seem ok, other than being very tired at times.
I'm absolutely convinced that my health/fitness level going into this is helping me on the recovery side.
It turned out I had a true bicuspid valve (originally thought to be functionally bicuspid with 2 of the 3 calcified leaflets) My valve is an On-X 25mm. I can sure hear it click, but I think I'll get used to it. Sure hope so...! I would not want to do this again with tissue in x years. 1 and done, but its a personal choice.
Hopefully the recovery continues to get better.
Tony
