S
Swill
I'm Home!
I'm Home!
Had the Aortic valve replace on Wednesday, 3-12, and just got home this afternoon, Sunday, 3-16. They would have let me out yesterday but had to wait until my INR got up above 1.8. I hit 2.2 this morning, so the doctor let me go.
For the most part had a great crew at the hospital. Had problems one night with pain management. That's my father's specialty -- he was the founding medical director of the second Hospice in the US -- and he's told me how to manage the pain. The crew up in ICU was great; they listened to me and kept the pain well under control. I had a problem with some of the crew in the CCU when I was transfered down there. Middle of the the night my incision pain spiked, and I was told that I had run out of my daily allotment of meds. Found out the next morning that the pharmacist had cancelled the script for the pain med because it would interefere with the warfarin. Nurse never contacted the doctor. Instead she asked me if I expected to be pain free. I went ballastic and got that straightened out that morning. She never even offered me a sleeping pill. Had great nurses the rest of the time, however, and I just took a sleeping pill at night to avoid her
For those who are still waiting for your own surgeries, I've had worse. Years ago I had surgery for sleep apnea, where they took out my soft palate, uvula, tonsils; fixed a broken nose and a deviated septum, and had the turbinates removed from my sinuses. That was so much worse, and I was back to work in about a week. My problem now, since I can already feel the difference in my lungs, is staying down. Not a problem before the surgery, but the reason I have someone staying home with me is to keep me sedentary and not overdo it.
I'll talk more later; I'm being told to log off and go watch a movie.
God bless all of you. Your words of wisdom and support were a godsend to me. The lady next to me in ICU was fighting her breathing tube, but I was prepared and relaxed. We'll talk later about pulling it out, along with the chest tubes and pacemaker wires, but all in all I'm glad I had it done.
Peace, love, and many thanks,
Will
I'm Home!
Had the Aortic valve replace on Wednesday, 3-12, and just got home this afternoon, Sunday, 3-16. They would have let me out yesterday but had to wait until my INR got up above 1.8. I hit 2.2 this morning, so the doctor let me go.
For the most part had a great crew at the hospital. Had problems one night with pain management. That's my father's specialty -- he was the founding medical director of the second Hospice in the US -- and he's told me how to manage the pain. The crew up in ICU was great; they listened to me and kept the pain well under control. I had a problem with some of the crew in the CCU when I was transfered down there. Middle of the the night my incision pain spiked, and I was told that I had run out of my daily allotment of meds. Found out the next morning that the pharmacist had cancelled the script for the pain med because it would interefere with the warfarin. Nurse never contacted the doctor. Instead she asked me if I expected to be pain free. I went ballastic and got that straightened out that morning. She never even offered me a sleeping pill. Had great nurses the rest of the time, however, and I just took a sleeping pill at night to avoid her
For those who are still waiting for your own surgeries, I've had worse. Years ago I had surgery for sleep apnea, where they took out my soft palate, uvula, tonsils; fixed a broken nose and a deviated septum, and had the turbinates removed from my sinuses. That was so much worse, and I was back to work in about a week. My problem now, since I can already feel the difference in my lungs, is staying down. Not a problem before the surgery, but the reason I have someone staying home with me is to keep me sedentary and not overdo it.
I'll talk more later; I'm being told to log off and go watch a movie.
God bless all of you. Your words of wisdom and support were a godsend to me. The lady next to me in ICU was fighting her breathing tube, but I was prepared and relaxed. We'll talk later about pulling it out, along with the chest tubes and pacemaker wires, but all in all I'm glad I had it done.
Peace, love, and many thanks,
Will
