Post op day 3 or 4

[FredW]

First, I need some coaching on how post op days are counted. I had surgery on Friday, late afternoon . It is now Monday late afternoon. So am I 3 or 4 days post op?

In any case, all my chest tubes are out, the PM wires will get pulled when they get around to it. I'm up walking often, doing 600 steps today. My hospital roommate is a PIA. Tonight I may sleep on the couch I found in the hall during my walk today. My platelet count is low and if it doesn't improve when I get out tomorrow, they may have me on warfarin for two months.
Oh, I weighed in this am 12 lbs more than I came in
I feel a little down today, but that may just be the nature of things. Hopefully that will improve when I get home.

 

[pellicle]

Hi

First, I need some coaching on how post op days are counted. I had surgery on Friday, late afternoon . It is now Monday late afternoon. So am I 3 or 4 days post op?

marks on the wall with crayon works for me

so I'd say 3 days post op

Oh, I weighed in this am 12 lbs more than I came in

wow ... that's clearly the "heavy duty" valve they installed ...

I feel a little down today, but that may just be the nature of things. Hopefully that will improve when I get home.

sorry to say : but that's normal. The key to it all is to remember that despite how you feel that you're a bag of chemistry not a reliable computing device, so often emotions are not a product of the situation but the chemistry going on behind your eyes.

No one will believe it themselves when they're going through it, but in hindsight that's what it is. I look back at how I felt after my 3rd and wonder how my wife put up with me, as I was like Marvin the Android.
[video=youtube;9JubaAS1v-w]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9JubaAS1v-w[/video]

 

[Catie]

I'll bet that was some relief, getting those chest tubes out.

I certainly can't top Pellicle's video--what a hoot!

I hope your roommate takes a chill pill so you can get some shuteye.

 

[Paleowoman]

Oh, I weighed in this am 12 lbs more than I came in
I feel a little down today, but that may just be the nature of things. Hopefully that will improve when I get home.

The weight increase is due to the fluids they pump into you during surgery. I'd love to know why they pump in so much. I'm quite skinny but immediately post surgery I looked pretty "wow" (got a photo dh took of me in ICU when I was sitting up - not decent enough to post here ) The diurectic med you will be on is to lose that fluid which can take a couple of weeks.

Hope you feel less down soon. It's normal to feel down after surgery but still not nice.

 

[FredW]

Thanks catie and paleogirl. Pellicle, you do have a host of strange videos and your sense of humor reminds me of Spaceballs, which my kids can quote line for line.

I did get some sleep last nite, an hour on a couch in the hall, and three hours in my bed listing to music with ear plugs.

Today may be release day. I know remember why I hate hospitals second to courtrooms.

 

[pellicle]

Ahhh young padawan ... I see your schwartz has become stronger since ICU

excellent!

Everything is progressing just as the Emperor has forseen

...
I did get some sleep last nite, an hour on a couch in the hall, and three hours in my bed listing to music with ear plugs.

Today may be release day. I know remember why I hate hospitals second to courtrooms.

Sleep is GOOD!!

So, three cheers for release!

Hip hiP

 

[dornole]

Alan Rickman!!

 

[Catie]

Hope today's easier, having had that bit of sleep. I hope they do spring you today.

There's no place like home, there's no place like home.

 

[neil]

click those red shoes

 

[epstns]

Yeah, Fred, the fluid is normal. To keep it over the longer term is not. When I got home (9 days post-op), I looked like the Michelin Tire Man. I think I gained over 15 lbs of fluid. It took a couple of weeks on Lasix (along with that horrible potassium) to lose it.

It is entirely normal to feel emotional ups and downs - often for quite a long time post-op. Your body has been through a lot, and some say that your mind knows on a primal level that your heart has been messed with, understands now fully your mortality, and reacts negatively to the knowledge. Whatever it is, know that depression is actually a common after effect of many heart procedures. If it hits you - you are not alone. If you feel unable to cope with it, be sure to get help. There is no shame in finding help when it is needed. The shame would be to need help and refuse to find it.

You, like most of us, will probably do just fine. Just realize that you may slide "down into the dumps" now and then, seemingly without reason. This is normal, too, and most of us get through it and out the other side into life.

 

[pellicle]

... This is normal, too, and most of us get through it and out the other side into life.

[video=youtube;-ECUtkv2qV8]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ECUtkv2qV8[/video]

 

[FredW]

Yeah, Fred, the fluid is normal. To keep it over the longer term is not. When I got home (9 days post-op), I looked like the Michelin Tire Man. I think I gained over 15 lbs of fluid. It took a couple of weeks on Lasix (along with that horrible potassium) to lose it.

It is entirely normal to feel emotional ups and downs - often for quite a long time post-op. Your body has been through a lot, and some say that your mind knows on a primal level that your heart has been messed with, understands now fully your mortality, and reacts negatively to the knowledge. Whatever it is, know that depression is actually a common after effect of many heart procedures. If it hits you - you are not alone. If you feel unable to cope with it, be sure to get help. There is no shame in finding help when it is needed. The shame would be to need help and refuse to find it.

You, like most of us, will probably do just fine. Just realize that you may slide "down into the dumps" now and then, seemingly without reason. This is normal, too, and most of us get through it and out the other side into life.

Thanks Steve, this morning, being home, having that first regular BM, throwing a ball for my dog, and having it so quite that I can hearing the ringing in my ears, I feel better, lighter, and less bloated.