Post AVR Pain

[steve c]

...And now for my next "I'm Worried About This Upcoming Surgery And It's Results" question: What can I expect in terms of post-operative pain? I've been told that there are no nerves in or around the heart itself and that the "only" (ha ha) pain I can expect is that which is caused by ny split sternum...Is this true? Any other feedback?

Thanks again Everyone!

Steve

 

[BillC]

Not Much Pain

Not Much Pain

Hey Steve ... you've heard right. At least for me there was very little discomfort other than the sternum. You might be sore in your shoulder area from the way they have you positioned for the surgery, but that passes pretty quickly.

It takes about 6 weeks or so for the sternum to heal and you have to be very guarded and protective of that whole area during this time. And if you're not, it will remind you .

Bottom line -- don't worry about post-pain. Take care ~

 

[DickV]

I agree with Bill. You are so glad to be home and out of the hospital, everything else is small in comparison. Also every day you feel a bit better. Drugs help.

 

[martha]

Hi Steve,

The only other thing that was sore was my neck. That passed very quickly. The drugs they give you are wonderful... Good Luck.

 

[srwieland]

The worst post-operative pain for me was my throat from the intubation. Whoever inserted and removed those tubes must have really been rough! The morphine the first two days post-op didn't help, Tylox thereafter did. Once I had a couple days relief with the Tylox, I was fine and stopped taking pain medication altogether; that was 4 days post-op and 1 day after leaving the hospital.

Of course, the sternum pain is the most enduring pain, and the most severe when you SNEEZE (being EVIL), cough, vomit (I wretched the first morning I after getting home from the hospital because I didn't take the nausea medication that they gave me), etc.

I am now over 10 weeks post-op and can barely notice some very minor lingering soreness in my sternum when I strain it. Otherwise, I feel better than I have in many, many years.

 

[Kevin M]

In descending order

In descending order

Here's my votes for the things that hurt from most to least:

-when they pull the chest tubes out
-dragging chest tubes around for those first couple of days
-when they move you around to take in-bed X-rays while in intensive care
-any vomiting that you are unfortunate enough to experience
-when they put those big industrial-sized IV's in your wrist and neck
-upper back and neck soreness/stiffness (tolerable, but it hangs around a while)
-sneezes (they hurt, but you get used to them and the pain is shortlived)
-pulling out the external pacemaker wires
-sternum soreness


Really, the only ones that I found really painful are the chest tubes and the Xrays. The rest are more like a temporary discomfort.

I was surprised at the lack of pain overall. The painkillers make everything quite comfortable.

Because I do not like to concentrate on the negative, I would like to mention that in both my ops, I was surprised at how quickly I felt good after surgery. Within two days, the worst is over. Within a week, you permagrin - two weeks after surgery, you start to overdo it and tire yourself out because you feel so good you can do all sorts of things. Your body has a way of shaking it's collective finger at you when you do this.

Don't fret, the pain isn't as bad as you might think.
Kev

 

[Jean]

Pain

Pain

Steve,

We kid you not and I don't think it is due to any amnesia drug or anything. I remember waking up in CICU, opening my eyes and looking around and thinking "I'm still here!", and then realizing I felt really comfy. There really wasn't any pain...just little ouches. When they asked if I could roll over for the xrays, I thought, "Well you tell me can I" and they laughed, but it was no biggie! When I left the hospital (day5) they gave me no pain prescription. When I asked about it the nurse told me I had had no meds for pain since day 4 in the am. All I every took was Advil. I did have aches in my upper left chest, but found out that was from the two ribs that got broken! And like somebody else said, you will be so thrilled with how good you feel, avoiding overdoing things will be your biggest job . Baby yourself a little. Good luck and God bless!

 

[BillC]

No Pain ... Plenty of Gain

No Pain ... Plenty of Gain

Steve .. You've gotten a bunch of good and real advice here. When you look at all the possible aches and pains it can be a little overwhelming. I'd like to say that I agree that the chest tubes and pacemaker wires are no fun when they take them out... but keeping it in perspective, it really wasn't any worse than a "pinch"... just lasts a split second and it's over. I was never nauseated and never vomited, so hopefully you won't either. The IVs are a bit of a nuisance, but definitely no biggie. All in all, there's nothing to stress over.

Everyone's different about post-op pain meds. I took pain meds fairly regularly for several weeks after I got home (for minor aches and discomfort). Then one day I woke up and didn't need it any more and it was no problem to stop taking them cold-turkey. The nurses in the hospital told me that it was important to take pain meds when/if needed, because it effected how you breathed. If you're uncomfortable you take shallow breaths... and they want you to take lots of deep breaths to get your lungs all cleared out. So don't be stoic about pain meds. Take them when you need them and don't worry about it.

 

[ALCapshaw]

Yep Steve,

I concur with everyone's inputs. I had a triple bypass, not valve replacement, but recall that recovery was mostly varying degrees of 'discomfort'. I don't like the nausea and dizzyness that comes with some pain medications and specifically asked for something with low side effects. As I recall, I only took one pill, morning and evening, and that sufficed. One of my friends never even took additional pain medication after the IV drip was stopped!

Remember your breathing exercises and your cough pillow. Also, if sleeping in bed is uncomfortable, try a recliner for a few weeks. Daily walks will speed your recovery and return of energy.

Best wishes,

'AL'

 

[FredH]

Pain

Pain

Hi Steve,
I have to agree with everyone the pain was the least of my problems. Some people don't like the mophine but I found it to be great. If you have pain just ask for morphine if it dosen't bother you. Within two weeks I was on over the counter medications for the pain. Overall the pain for me was not near as bad as I had thought it was going to be. Good luck