Its been said a few times, one more can't hurt, can it?
Pain is different for everyone, but I thought I'd chime in and give you my $0.02.
Its been 1 year (almost to the day!) since my OHS - aortic valve replacement and ascending aorta replacement. I'm 35, 6'4 and always thought of myself as the king of pain tolerance. I've shot myself with a nail gun before, ripped the nail out with a pair of pliers, kept on working. Countless times cutting myself with various construction tools, never winced. Riding ATV's/motorcycles all my life, falling/flipping/crashing - bruised battered and torn, just laugh it off and keep on going. People will claim they did better because they have a "high tolerance" for pain. I have a generally exceptionally high tolerance for pain. This experience taught me lessons about what pain really is, let me tell you.
Pain was indescribable, and very poorly controlled while in the hospital. They were totally out of control with pain management, treating me as if I was a pain killer junkie. One of the poor English speaking doctors even came out and told me "Maybe you just think you have pain too bad so you can get more attention" HA!
And given the fact they administer the same amount of pain medication for an 85 year old woman who weights 80 pounds, I'd say they need to do a little more research on how to properly administer pain medication. I had my family there with me at all times, and thank god for that! Without them, I don't know what I'd do. They were my constant advocate to get another drop of IV pain med or another Tylenol when my 4 hours were up. I had to fight to get Tylenol for heaven's sake!
The pain going home and for the first 2-3 weeks there after for me was much more than I was led to believe or could have ever imagined. Honestly, I don't say this to intimidate you or raise your anxiety level, but seriously, I had no idea, and no one just laid it out on the line for me. I'm much better prepared for next time, having gone through it.
Recovery for me was much longer than I had expected as well. It took my a good 3 months to get to the point where I could comfortably lay in bed to sleep or use my arms to push up without having chest/collar bone pain.
Being younger does not pose an advantage in this case in terms of pain and heeling based on my experience. My pain level was at a 10+ many times during the first days and even weeks. The breathing machine
. I woke up and had to stay on that damn thing for an hour and a half longer, fully awake! The nurse couldn't believe how quickly I woke up and how alert and cognizant I was. It felt like trying to breathe through a soda straw after having run up 4 flights of stairs. I don't think even having been through that I am prepared for next time, but I will absolutely insist that they knock me out if I was to wake up again that quickly. No one - and I MEAN NO ONE should have to suffer through that, there's just no reason for it.
Have your family there with you, and make sure they know to speak up on your behalf. No matter the pain or experience you have, realize the alternative (i.e. not having surgery) is worse, and eventually the pain subsides and life does go back to normal. Again - I don't mean to introduce doom and gloom, but I really wish someone would have just told me how it was rather than sugar coat everything like what tends to happen here. Its not a pleasant experience, and its going to hurt, especially if you are younger.
I'm sure I'll get a razzing now for being the one to tell it like it is, but..
