Step By Step

[RandyL]

Can somebody please walk me thru the procedure once you get to the hospital for surgery. It would really be nice to know what to expect once you get there ie. presurgery,post surgery,recovery,ans of course release. If somebody has already done this before please direct me to the thread so that I might read it. Thanks so Much
Randy

BTW I am having a AVR on Jan 5,2006

 

[Lynlw]

Randy where are you having your surgery? We've used a couple hospitals and they all do it different.
Do you have a presurgery appt, where they draw blood , chest xray..? or is all that the day of surgery? Lyn

 

[RandyL]

Florida Hospital in Orlando I have a presurgery appt the day before.

 

[Phyllis]

Randy,
I imagine all hospitals are different but I will describe Dick's experience at Brigham.
He had pre-surgery two days before surgery (a Tuesday) and it consisted of mainly being shuffled from one department to another for tests (ekg, chest xray, blood, etc.) and then meetings with various people (anesthesiologist, nurses, etc.) and signing releases, etc. The next day, he was admitted for his catherization and then transferred to a room for the night. I was told to be there at 6:15 the next morning to see him before surgery. Got there at 6 and they had already moved him from his room to pre-op where I was able to spend about 10 minutes with him, before they wheeled him off to the operating room. After surgery he was in ICU and I was allowed to see him one hour after the conclusion of surgery. I could stay as long as I wanted as there was one patient in a room and there was one nurse per patient. The next morning (Friday) he was in the cardiac care unit where there was one nurse to three patients. They got him up and walking pretty quickly and he had few bumps in the road (one morning of a-fib which was quickly controlled. I don't remember the exact schedule, but slowly all tubes were removed and he was walking freely. He was released on Monday around noon and our daughter drove us home to CT (about 2 hours) with a stop to stretch along the way.
Hope this helps. We were very impressed with the care at Brigham and hope that you have the same good experience at your hospital.
Best Wishes,
Phyllis

 

[Georgia]

I think it really helps to have "significant others" detailing the events around the surgery, as my memory is pretty foggy from the time they started the anesthetic until about two weeks afterward. This is probably a good thing.

I remember being really annoyed by my first roommate's family who were loud and rude and used our bathroom (there was a real overcrowding problem at my hospital when I had my surgery and I ended up in a double; the alternative was remaining in cicu and that was not an option for me).

So chime in all of you who were supporting those of us who were goofy from painkillers.

 

[Kathy Canistro]

Hi Randy,

It's Kathy again. Here is my experience. On June 30th I walked into the hospital at 5:30 AM, I was taken to a waiting area. They start an IV answer any questions you might have. They prep you, shave you everywhere. My surgery started at 7:30 AM I don't remeber another thing except that at 2:30 my wonderful husband was allowed in the ICU to see me at 3:10 they asked if I would like the ventilator removed. You can't answer because you can not talk while it is in, They removed it and I could ask for ice chips and I was fully aware and not in too much pain. I stayed in the ICU 24 hours and was moved to a step down room. I was able to get almost anything I wanted to eat. One thing that did concern me was they kept checking my blood sugar and giving me insulin and I am not a diabetic. They told me they always keep the blood sugar down even on the 20 year olds that were involved in accidents because they beleive you heal faster.

I know when I was in your position nothing could have made me feel better, I was just plain scared.

If it helps to know this... I did not need pain medication once I got home 4 days later. I was sore but not in pain.

I am still not at the theraputic level of 2.5 to 3.5 yet and I still get the PT/INR test once a week. I am getting close last week I was 2.4

Sometime I can hear those new valves clicking like a very small wrist watch and that seems to be positional.

Please please try not to worry...It will be OK.

 

[hensylee]

we walked into the hospital the morning of surgery, signed in, were taken upstairs where the heart team took over. They started all the stuff, iv, etc, and put me in WARMED sheets and that's all I remember til I woke up in ICU, stayed there for 24 hrs. One nurse per patient. Family/friends were able to come in for a few minutes each. Next day I went to a room on cardiac floor where there was a heart team who watched you all the time. Chest Tubes were removed about the 2nd/3rd day but the little wires stay there til you are about to go home. There are people who come in to give you education about taking care of yourself after going home and for future. Be sure to keep any written info to study at home when you feel better. Sounds like everybody else's was essentially the same procedure.

 

[Lynlw]

I just went and reread Justin page, (another good reason for a page, it helps me remember) Justin DID have his surgery at a Childrens hospital, so somethings might be different, but since he was 17, alot would be the same.He had his surgery on Monday 5/2, he had his preop work up the friday before and we didn't have to go to the hospital until the morning of surgery. He got something (I think versed or valium) and then his IV. he was awake but loopy when he went back,The next thing he knew he was in CCU, it was about 7 hours between him going back to the or and getting to CCU at 5pm. He was on and off awake but remembers everything. They were going to try and get him off the vent before he got to CCu, but he wasn't ready, he got off it about 10pm.
Tuesday morning they pulled his chest tubes, pacerwires and foley, he sat up in a chair for a few hours and was on the heart flooraround noon on Tuesday and also walked a couple laps around the floor.the only things he had when he got to the floor, was IV access.
If you want to check out Justin's page, I have a pretty good record about the hospital stay and how he was the days and weeks post op it is www.caringbridge.org/nj/justinw go to the journel history and start reading, about April 28-29. if you go to the bottom of the photo page, there is a picture of him Wed Morning when the bandages were coming off. This was the 3rd time his chest was cracked, so they did a little scar revision when they were closing him and it looks really good, I hope this helps, Lyn

 

[Christina]

Valve Surgery.

Valve Surgery.

Randy,

Below is a link I found in my bookmark files. Hope it'll help you somehow knowing what is ahead for you.

http://www.healthyhearts.com/valvesurgery.htm

 

[TomS]

A couple of thoughts on the before process.
Have you had the cath done already? Many people have this done, stay overnight and then have surgery the next day. I didn't want to stay any more days than needed in the hospital, couldn't deal with the idea of sleeping in the hospital the night before surgery, and instead had the cath done on a Friday and went home for the weekend. I asked to be scheduled for the actual operation first (on the following Tuesday), woke up at about 3:30am in my own bed and went to the hospital that morning.
On arriving was given a gown, robe and slippers to change into, was weighed, and then they took blood. Then I waited around a bit and eventually was walked into the operating room. There given an IV and was out within 30 seconds. Seemed like I blinked my eyes and it was over and I was the ICU aware that I was OK.
Best of luck.

 

[jax3172]

The cardiac cath

The cardiac cath

TomS makes a good point about the cath. I had mine the day before surgery and stayed overnight with surgery the next day. Decide if you want it as part of your hospital stay or as an outpatient. But my real strong suggestion is to call you surgeon's office (since each hospital is unique) and politely DEMAND they take you through the process they plan for you in as much detail as you need. I would suggest getting the scoop on everything pre-op, everthing "after the lights go out", and everything after they come back on. Typically, a physician's assistant or nurse can tell you anything you need to know. After all, you are the customer.

 

[RandyL]

I had a cath in September which led me to the decision of surgery. Do I need to have another one? Noone has mentioned it to me

 

[BDMc]

Second Cath

Second Cath

Randy, I doubt they'll need to do another, but then again my experience was a long time ago and they may have changed protocall. I do advise you keep a checklist as to what tests they require, and check each one off. I had a resident insist I get one blood test as he said it was missed. I knew it was done, but had nothing to show for it. He woke me in the middle of the night to draw the blood. The next morning he came back to say he was sorry, they'd found the original test's results. All the best, Brian

 

[jax3172]

Call the hospital

Call the hospital

Randy,

As I suggested in my last reply, I urge you to call the surgeon. His PA or a nurse will walk you through everything (e.g., whether you need another cath or not - I'd fight it if they said you needed another one). Did you get a CTSCAN of your chest with contrast? I would also strongly suggest one before surgery. If you have any dilation at all with your aorta, or any other valve problems now would be the time to know, not later. They will cover that also. Call your surgeon's office! Be cool.

Jack