The basics

[labguides]

Some questions about the basics:
1) Do you take enough undies for your stay in the hospital?
2) Can you wear jammies or do you have to wear hospital gown the entire stay?
3) Do you need to take a robe?
4) Is a urinary catheter used? if so, how long?
5) How long do you use bedpan?
6) Do you wear street clothes or jammies for ride home?
7) How soon do you get to eat real food?

Just the basic questions!

 

[fyrfytr]

Hey westielvr,
Some good questions.
1. I took 5 pair and don't remember if I used all or not.
2. I think it would be easier to wear the gown as you will be hooked up to a monitor, I did wear sweatpants with my gown when I went for my walks.
3. I took one but never used it.
4. Yes you will have a foley catheter, mine was taken out the same time they took the chest tubes out.
5. I never did use a bed pan. The nurses would help me to the bathroom. Did have to Pee in a bottle for a few days is all.
6. You won't want to wear anything tight. I wore sweatpants and a teeshirt home. I also had an incision in my groin where they had to hook me up to the heart lung machine as they were working on my aorta.
7. I had surgery on a Monday and taken to the heart floor on Tues. and had food that afternoon.
I hope this helps you out.
Take Care and Happy Holidays

Dave
_______________________________
Surgery: 4/21/03
Aortic Aneurysm Repair
AVR, with a St. Jude Mechanical

 

[Ross]

Take a pair or two of undies. You won't really get to wear them except into and out of the hospital.

By far easier to wear the hospital gown. If you must have pants, they have those or you can take some real loose fitting ones with you. It's not fun putting them on.

I'd say travel light and skip the robe, but it's your call.

Foley cath is used just until your able to get out of bed and walk.

You may or may not have to use the bed pan. If you do, it's the same as the answer above.

You start eating real food just as soon as your stomach can handle it. Usually the next day.

 

[Nancy]

Don't bother bringing any of your own jammies to the hospital, or extra underwear, except that for going home. You'll have lots of IVs and the hospital gowns are made to accommodate them. If you need to cover up your backside for walking in the hall, you can ask for hospital bottoms, or you can also use a hospital gown put on backwards, but this only works for very short people. If you're tall, your buns are going to be hanging out even with the extra gown. Hospital bottoms are the best thing.

Also there will be some blood leakage from the various IV sites and whatever, and you don't want to get your good clothing covered with that. It's really hard to wash out.

Joe would NEVER use the bedpan. He always insisted on a portable potty chair next to the bed, no matter how weak, sick or tired he was. The hospitals have always accommodated him. Not sure about all hospitals though. Men can have the luxury of a urinal.

Bring something loose for the ride home. You'll be sore and possibly swollen. Tight things will be uncomfortable.

They'll get you eating as soon as you can demonstrate that you won't throw things up.

 

[MelissaM]

Some questions about the basics:
1) None required here! (Is that too much information. . .? )

2) Hospitals will provide you with the gown. They may have a nice two-piece gown for you to wear, equivalent of jammies. The biggest requirement is that they have access to the sites they need to see - so a button-down jammie top might fly.

3) Only if you want - you might get cold on a walk.

4) Mine was out the morning after surgery. (I like 'em - no gettng up in the middle of the night! )


5) Didn't. Was up and walking to the potty after the cath was taken out.

6) Street clothes.


7) As soon as you can. Eat early and often - it will help you build energy and work on your recovery. You might want to pack a few "emergency snacks" to have on hand. Just make sure they are low-salt, as you don't want to retain additional fluid after surgery.

 

[Kenny F]

It seems pretty consistent from all:

1) none needed
2)hospital gown is far more practical
3)robe would be more trouble than it's worth
4)catheter was out in SICU
5)never used a bedpan (a personal goal)
6)wore street clothes home
7)had liquid and cream of wheat in SICU, food by lunch next day

 

[Georgia]

Dittos

Dittos

Here are my added suggestions for hospital:

CD/tape player with earphones. Used in intensive care, which is very loud and with so many people coming out of anesthesia etc there are a lot of sounds you're just not interested in hearing.

I took my own pillow - have found I can't sleep with fat pillows. Made all the difference in the world - I slept well after surgery. Couple of pillowcases - you eliminate a lot of chemicals in your perspiration and pillow doesn't smell very good pretty fast.

Although I lost my taster for weeks, my smeller seemed really sensitive.

Saltshaker, tangerines/oranges (you'll kill for liquids, and they'll let you have the fruit).

 

[catwoman]

I bought a snap-down robe and it was great.

Burning question for me: What about a bra? Found out that women are advised NOT to wear bras for about 4-6 weeks post-op. So I got camisole bralets at Costco.

Slip-on shoes much easier to get into than lace-ups when it's uncomfortable to bend over to tie shoelaces.

 

[Nancy]

I wouldn't bring a salt shaker. Too many times people can retain a lot fluid after surgery. I know the hospital food is yucky. But they might put you on a salt-free diet for a reason, and that is to keep you safe from any events that would be difficult to control. Your heart won't be functioning in tip-top shape and isn't able to push out the fluids like it should. It's only temporary and let's face it, no matter how good the cuisine, it's not the Four Seasons. You could bring Mrs. Dash or some other salt-free shaker. Also many hospitals have their own salt-free shakes that are not too bad. Ask about them.

If you want to safegaurd your health and you're on Coumadin, beware of anything like Ensure or Boost on your meal tray. Hospitals love to send those along, and they have lots of Vitamin K in them.

If your INR is being sluggish, drinking these beverages could make your stay much longer.

For some reason, the dieticians are oblivious to this little diet conflict. It should be corrected.

 

[Ross]

If you want to safegaurd your health and you're on Coumadin, beware of anything like Ensure or Boost on your meal tray. Hospitals love to send those along, and they have lots of Vitamin K in them.

If your INR is being sluggish, drinking these beverages could make your stay much longer.

For some reason, the dieticians are oblivious to this little diet conflict. It should be corrected.

Boy isn't that the truth. They kept trying to get me to drink Boost, didn't give a hoot about my dietary tray, I had all sorts of greens, salt, pepper, you name it.

I think we need to warn everyone about this before surgery!!!

 

[Nancy]

And, not to belabor the point, but don't let anyone bring you goodies like special foods, Chinese, burgers, tacos, pizza, candy and cookies. Save that for when your body can handle it. You'll survive.

Just do what the hospital says to do, no more, no less, and if you have any doubts about what they are doing, get it straightened out with the nurse, if possible, but the surgeon is really the decision maker. This is, afterall, a serious medical situation. Don't want to muck it up.

Joe has been in the situation where they have had to restrict fluids, or he could only be on "clear liquids", one time he could only have liquids from a small sponge (that was a joy) so if you want additional snacks, ask the nurse for them. She'll bring the appropriate thing unless it's Ensure or Boost.

 

[wweir]

Westielvr,

Here is what I did:

1) Do you take enough undies for your stay in the hospital? ? Only took an extra pair for the ride home.

2) Can you wear jammies or do you have to wear hospital gown the entire stay? ? Hospital gown was all I had, rather breezy, if you know what I mean.

3) Do you need to take a robe? ? No but I had my operation in August

4) Is a urinary catheter used? if so, how long? ? Mine was in for three days

5) How long do you use bedpan? ? Never used one while I was there

6) Do you wear street clothes or jammies for ride home? ? Street clothes

7) How soon do you get to eat real food?? While I was in the hospital ? bring salt

 

[Harpoon]

OY!!!!

BRING SALT????


Gawd....

If you need a salt shaker at the dinner table you need to throw it and all other salt in your kitchen out NOW.

Salt makes your body retain fluids, in ANYONE, regardless of health status. If you have a heart condition, whether acquired or congenital, you do not need salt for anything.

The US-FDA recommends something like 2,000mg of salt per day, no more though your body only needs 200mg to function normally. If you have CHF you should know better.

My responses to the questions listed:

1) Do you take enough undies for your stay in the hospital?

I had two pairs, one got "toasted" and the other was useful for the ride home.

2) Can you wear jammies or do you have to wear hospital gown the entire stay?

Loose jammies are nice if you're only going to be in for a night or two. I had an initial workup a few months before surgery and one of the things they did was a cath study. I was on bedrest for 8 hours and ended up staying the night since I had to come back the next day anyway for more testing. Having the jammies (my wife got me a pair of Disney "Grumpy" pajamas for Christmas just a month before, they were a size too big) was handy the next day, in fact I wore the pants and a sweatshirt all day long.

3) Do you need to take a robe?

I brought mine and was using it as they took out some of the IV's (don't ask how many I had, I can't count that high!) and it was nice for when I felt cold or was moving around on the floor.

4) Is a urinary catheter used? if so, how long? ? Yup, for as long as they feel you need it.

5) How long do you use bedpan? Not counting my time on the vent (I was in diapers, or so I've been told) it really depends on how well you can move in and out of bed, if at all. I usually used a portable potty chair thing and a plastic urinal. As I got more mobile they let me use an accessible bathroom in the step-down unit I was in. I also got to shower there a few times and brush my teeth. First time I saw myself in the mirror was rather mind-blowing. "Mack truck" just doesn't cover what I had been through....

6) Do you wear street clothes or jammies for ride home?

Street clothes I had packed before going in. I had a duffle bag with neccesities including travel bag with toothbrush, toothpaste, electric razor and such.

7) How soon do you get to eat real food?

I'm not a good one to answer this, was on a vent for a very long time and had complications from it. THROW THE FRIGGIN' SALT SHAKER OUT!!! =)


Final note. I also had a few books to read, a portable CD player with a small case of CD's, a pad of paper for writing, pencils and a sharpener and, because I draw, a sketchpad and colored pencils.

Oh, and if you go for any kind of long tests where you're just laying on your back for a long time (ie. MRI) bring a few favorite CD's and either they'll play them for you or you can listen on your portable CD player. I spent almost 2 hours in an MRI scanner (the computer kept crashing) and listened to "elevator music..." A serious test of patience and sanity! I wish I had my CD player with me. I had left it in the room without knowing I might want it.

 

[Kenny F]

Harpoon,

You can't assume that everyone with valve issues has CHF. I am extremely healthy, no cardio vascular disease, and thruout this whole procedure most (not my cardio) of the medical community wants to treat me like a 'heart patient' when in fact I have a mechanical defect.

I am an accomplished amateur cook. We do not use salt on the table, as I correctly season our food while preparing it. The food in the hospital is needlessly bland. I am not advocating layering in salt to hide the bad flavor, rather using salt as it was intended to enhance and bring out flavor.

Anybody talk to a doctor about this? I would be interested to hear if it is really an issue.

 

[Ross]

I'm keeping my salt shaker and I'm using my salt sparingly. I'm not having any problems with it. Besides, I lose more salt then boiled water the way I sweat.

My Doctors don't have a problem with it either.

 

[Marge]

I haven't had my surgery yet, but I was sure grateful for having my Apple iPod with me at the cath I had about three weeks ago.
I lay there for a couple of hours before they wheeled me in, and then, as you all know, it is about six hours on your back with a clamp on your leg before they let you up. The cath techs were even willing to let me keep it during the procedure itself.
During the "recovery" period I was in a cubicle in the so-called "recovery area," with what sounded like loud parties going on in the cubicles to the left and right of me, and bright lights overhead. The iPod saved my life, or at least my sanity.
MUCH better than a CD player because you have all your music on one little player smaller than the average PDA and very light and it is very easy to manipulate for volume, changing the selection, etc. The battery life is about 8 hours, then you have to recharge it, but you can get a portable battery charger.
The iPod holds about 10,000 songs. I haven't figured out yet how many CD's that makes, but it's A LOT!!
You can also download audible books onto the iPod.
P.S. I do not work for Apple!!!

 

[Harpoon]

I'm not assuming everyone with a valve problem has CHF, however most everyone that has some form of heart trouble or another, even the most common forms of heart desease, can do with LESS salt in their diet... As well as fat, cholesterol...

That's just based on what I know and have heard from a variety of different sources.

 

[Marge]

Harpoon, most everybody (heart patient or not) can do with less salt than they are currently taking in.
I've been diagnosed with CHF/DCM as well as the MR. The recommended maximum sodium intake per day for people in my condition is 2000 mg. But the recommended maximum daily sodium intake for ANYBODY is 2400 mg. Most Americans are eating many times that amount.
Luckily for me (and thanks partly to a diet that was never very high in sodium in the first place) I don't have the swelling from fluid retention or the SOB that are characteristic of CHF. I hope to keep it that way as long as possible, so I'm being a little obsessive about sodium these days.
I've actually had very little trouble staying under 2000 mg a day and having a very tasty and satisfying diet.
Things I miss? Really good cheese and the occasional bit of prosciutto. But I can work even those into my daily intake once in a while without cheating.

 

[Kenny F]

Marge,

I have been lusting after an iPod since first seeing one - just haven't been able to justify it yet! I had to choose a dozen Cds to take - and you never know what you want to listen to. Yours is the first real-world report I've heard about it as a product.

I had the same problem during recovery from cath (except no CDs) - seems the block party was in Cardiac short-stay. It was very unnerving.

BTW, not to beat this salt-horse to death, but the daily equals about a teaspoon. That is indeed a lot of salt. The hospital food has zero. I would have paid money for a 1/4 tsp at any meal!

 

[Harpoon]

Let the beating continue....

Let the beating continue....

Let the beating continue...One last thing on salt... Last night I while I was perusing after signing up for this (I was battling the tickle cough which is a side-effect of the lisinopril I'm on) I noticed the recipe forum has VERY little material on it.

I've gotta couple of really cool heart healthy cookbooks and I've collected a bunch more recipes on-line and I'm gonna start posting a few favorites if anyone's interested.... My wife says I'm getting scary with my cooking but it's fun and some of the stuff I've turned out is REALLY good....