Post - surgery ... Day by day

[JiFaire]

Well, I got by very defective valve replaced on Wednesday, Dev 12, 2012 (12-12-12)

Lying on my chest in pre-op, my wife told me the old one sounded like 'whoosh-gurgle'... 5 hrs later, I'm the proud owner of an ON-X valve that goes lub-dub-click.

That was Wednesday; Thursday felt a bit better, and Friday, I gotta drainage tubes out, Foley catheter out, pacing wires out,and subclavian line out. I'm on my third walk of the day,and as long as I can lety lungs clearing, I should be outta here by Monday.

These guys are amazing!!

 

[dwhist]

Congratulations and welcome to the other side.

 

[pellicle]

congratulations!

good to see you back

small steps and step every day

and well done to your team too

 

[TheGymGuy]

Woooohhoooo, sounds like a very nice recovery rate. Walk them hallways and use that spirometer!!!!

 

[Jkm7]

Sounds like you are doing great.
Doesn't it just amaze you that despite the seriousness of this surgery, we are ready to be released (in a large percentage of the cases) in four or five days.? When you wrap your head around how far this surgery has progressed, it is amazing as compared to 20 years ago.
Aren't we lucky!!!!!
Best Wishes your recovery continues bump free.

 

[tgmorris]

Sounds great.

One word of caution however is that while you may feel really good it will be quite easy to over do it. I found this out firsthand and wound with a short trip to the ER the same evening as my release. Fortunately I didn't have to stay but the experience isn't something I'd want to repeat.

Here's hoping for a speedy recovery.

 

[Oilman]

You sound real good Jim,

Glad thing are going as planned, just relax and go through the motions now with the physio and eat all your meals. Welcome to the other side, the grass is greener over here. It sure is nice to get all that equipment off of us, I know I was a couple days behind that, but still was glad to get out of bed and start to walk again. Take it easy for sure, the body will let you know when it's done too much, like my first shower, chest hurt a little after that. Glad your doing well and your sounding pretty positive, your story in a valuable one to many that will face what you are right in the middle of now. So keep us informed when you feel up to it. It is sure amazing what modern medicine and the human body can achieve today, thank god for all of us.

Doug

 

[pellicle]

Doesn't it just amaze you that despite the seriousness of this surgery, we are ready to be released (in a large percentage of the cases) in four or five days.? When you wrap your head around how far this surgery has progressed, it is amazing as compared to 20 years ago.

ahmen to that one!

I was in for over 2 weeks when I was a kid, then over a week in 1992 and would have been out in about a week in 2011 (if not for an infection which seemed to have come back). My wife was simply amazed at how fast things got going.

I think that getting you up moving as soon as possible (and carefully) in post op is part of the key to that.

 

[gerrychuck]

Congratulations! Took me over 2 weeks to get out; I had a a little more recoverin' to do due to the emergency nature of my surgery. Something about "cariogenic shock" and heart failure to deal with Hated the physio (and I AM a PT!). Must not have resented my therapist as a person though; I used the opportunity to recruit him, and just hired him away from the hospital yesterday! I actually kinda missed my Foley when it came out; what a fantastic convenience (especially when you can barely get out of bed and you're still on Lasix). I'm 8 weeks post-op today and doing great; I'm sure you'll be way ahead of me by this time. Good luck with your recovery!

 

[JiFaire]

Well, I'm walking the halls, feeling better all the time. Just ran into a 4-yr old with a zipper on his chest... Cute little guy; makes me understand how lucky I was that mine lasted me this long.

It's all good... Even though I coughed this morning. Now THERE'S an experience!

 

[pellicle]

. Even though I coughed this morning. Now THERE'S an experience!

I developed an art for coughing to bring up the stuff and minimize the chest strain.

Do you use a hug cushion during coughing?

 

[JiFaire]

Yep, when the cough doesn't sneak up on me! That first one caught me by surprise!!

 

[Oilman]

In my experience so far, I hadn't had to couch very hard to often, but the 4 or 5 sneezes that sneak up while walking or when ever...oh my lord that rattles from top to bottom.....

 

[VegasBAV]

I seem to have developed a new superpower to suppress sneezes. I feel a sneeze coming on, I tense up, it passes. Weird.

 

[pellicle]

Avoided any foods with crumbs foe months

 

[gerrychuck]

Yep, when the cough doesn't sneak up on me! That first one caught me by surprise!!

I really hated the coughing! The ones that surprise you always seem to catch you in a position guaranteed to hurt the most too. Getting much better now after 8 weeks though; hang in there!

 

[JiFaire]

'Morning! Spent last might in A-fib, running anywhere between 130-170 rpm

They put me on metropol, did some blood work, determined my electrolytes were out of balance, and settled me in for the night. Aargh. First marathon I've ever run, and I never left the bed!

I converted back to sinus at around 3 am, and have been pretty much ok since then, which means I didn't need cardio version this morning. I think they're planning to keep me until Tuesday now, just to be sure.

I must say, the care has been phenomenal; my surgical team are all rock stars, the nurses and techs have been on top of everything. This place is amazing; no wonder they tout it as one of the best in the world. Centers that specialize in this soon learn the cardiac care thing. God bless all of them; every day, I see a steady parade of rookies coming in on stretchers, and a steady stream of veterans walking out under their own steam.

Looking forward to being one of those!!

 

[tgmorris]

Sounds like things are progressing, even with the AFib. I had to stay an extra day while they worked to resolve my AFib but didn't have the excessive rate to deal with as mine happened around 120 BPM. Three months later I'm finishing up rehab on virtually no meds (I'll only be on a multivitamin and 81mg aspirin in 3 days!) and can push to 150+ and stay in normal sinus rhythm.

I'd say once they figure out the right drug mixture for you things should only continue to improve.

 

[pellicle]

Hi

It was a slow and gradual return to a HR of less than 100bpm after my surgery. So don't be disparaged if it takes a while

 

[JiFaire]

Well, coming to the end of Day 6... I went in last Wednesday at noon, and I came home Monday morning. It's now Tuesday night, and other than having a lot in common with kittens (strength, not mobility), I'm feeling great.

Tomorrow, I need to go for lab work in the morning, so we'll get another look at what my INR is settling out to. (it was 1.7 when I left on Monday AM). Happy coindidence; my wife went to the local small-town pharmacy to see if they had all the prescriptions I needed, and when she gave the list to the Pharmacist, he said "oh, cardiac patient, eh? What was it, a valve?"

Turns out the guy was a Cardiac Pharmacist at a major centre for 10 years, then bought this small-town Alberta drugstore so he could move his young family out of the city. He told her to have me call, anytime, if I had questions or concerns, gave her his home phone number, and helped her order a Coaguchek XS with supplies, which is what the pharmacist from the INR clinic at the U of A had recommended. (She also recommended letting THEM help me to stabilize the INR, and running tests in parallel with the lab for a while, so they could help me learn to do this on my own...)

Wow. The quality of care on this little journey has been world-class, from start to finish; I sure as hell don't want to do this again, but knowing how good the care is, I wouldn't be afraid to, either.

OH! And I finally can hear my valve!! It sounds incredibly faint, like a watch, and the sound just blends into the background, but once I figured out what to look for, it's right there! (I reorded my chest with my iPhone, and it was very clear... from that point on, I can hear it no problem.) But only in one ear... I can't hear it with my left ear (ah, approaching deafness, probably caused by the open-window effect over the last million or so miles. - for you aussies, that's the left side, in normal cars

My resting HR is 91 now - a far cry from the 58 that's been normal most of my life, but I'll take it, for now. I've got time, patience, and I'm sure it'll come along.