Upcoming surgery

[hensylee]

Mimi - hope you check in before you go tomorrow. Am sure others will be along to wish you well. As for me - well as always to someone heading for the mountaintop, I say we'll be holding your hand as you go, prayers are with you. Please ask somebody to check in here and post us, if possible and ---Godspeed

 

[mimi314]

Bless you all

Bless you all

I'm going to brief my sister on using the site, so she can let you all know how I behaved myself. She'll be here house and pet sitting for me while I'm in the hospital.
Talk to y'all later, Barbara

 

[mimi314]

To Brad

To Brad

Brad.
I'll probably be back home recouperating by the time you have your surgery. Then I'll be giving the pep talks. I don't quite feel qualified yet, since I haven't made that trip yet. But I'll be in there pulling and praying for you.
God Bless!

 

[Jan]

Upcoming Surgery

Upcoming Surgery

Hi Barbara (mimi)
I just want to let you know you will be in my thoughts on thursay and too wish you well.

To Brad,
I will also be thinking of you, And hope you are soon on the road to recovery.

My surgery is planned for the 7th Nov so lets hope that before long we are all safely ON THE OTHER SIDE

Jan

 

[Christina]

To Brad, Mimi & Jan,

Will be thinking of all of you when you have your surgery, and hope you all arrive safely on the other side.

Christina

 

[mimi314]

I made it!

I made it!

Hello, everyone!
I'm back home again after 7 days in the hospital and 2 weeks at my daughter's house. She finally let me come home yesterday, with my grandaughter spending the night. I'm on my own tonight and feel great! Well, great compared to the past three weeks, anyway.
Everything went fine with my surgery. Had a few complications, but nothing serious. My surgeon was able to put the type valve he prefers, the St. Jude Toronto Stentless Porcine Valve.
The surgery took longer as a result, and I had to have six units of blood. There was a good bit of fluid that collected in my chest cavity that had to be drained off after the tubes were taken out...I dreaded that procedure (thoracynthesis?) but it wasn't nearly as bad as I imagined it would be. The tubes coming out was the worst of all!
I had a bit of a problem with atrial fibrilation (sp?) a couple of times in the hospital...they put me on a drip to control it and now I'm taking amiodarone for awhile.
I stayed 3 extra days in the hospital because of the irregular heartbeat and the fact that I wasn't loosing enough fluid weight. It's really strange to gain 20 pounds overnight! But we finally got that under control and now I'm 5 pounds under normal.
Right now the only thing I'm experiencing is, of course soreness and tenderness at the incision, but also some depression. I know that's normal and I'm sure it will go away.
I've been looking for some memory loss, but either I'm so used to that...I've been absent minded for years...or there is none.
I find it a little difficult to find a comfortable position to sleep all night. I've had one neck and two back surgeries...and I get so stiff not being able to lay on my side yet. I'm actually afraid to try it. No one has said not to, but I just don't feel like it's a good thing to do until my sternum heals back.
And my taste buds are screwed up big time! Nothing tastes good. I had my first cup of coffee this morning since my surgery...just didn't want any before...and it tasted almost right. Maybe I'll be able to loose the weight I put on these past 2 years of couch potatohood.
Well, that's my story. It's good to be back and I have to say how much I appreciate all your support. It's meant a lot to me to be able to communicate with all of you. I'll be here for a long time, hoping I'll be able to help someone they way you all have helped me.
Later, Barbara

 

[Nancy]

Hi Mimi/Barbara

Hi Mimi/Barbara

So glad to hear from you. We were wondering hom things worked out.

You're on the road to recovery now. Enjoy your new found good (albeit sore) health.

 

[sylviayasgur]

hi barbara!
how wonderful to hear you are on that road to recovery! you sound great! my husband, joey, also had some a-fib in the hospital post op and is on amioderone for a bit ( i think they plan to take him off in about 3 weeks or so).
thank you for keeping us posted.
take it easy, relax and enjoy this period of healing. rest is very important, so don't do too much.
be well and God bless,
sylvia

 

[hensylee]

Isn't it nice to finally be over the mountaintop. Sounds like you had a go of it but are on the road to good recovery. Nice to be with your daughter, too. You will be the best judge of when to try sleeping on your side - it comes around slowly. It's kinda scary knowing you have a split down your center and wondering if you're gonna hurt it! Think someone else already did that. Best wishes for continuing recovery.

 

[Lorraine]

Hi Barbara (Mimi),

Welcome to the other side! What a great gift to be able to be home by Thanksgiving. I had the same shock as you after surgery. Where the heck did 25lbs come from? It was all fluid retention. It took longer than overnite to get rid of it though. It took me about a week. I just freaked.
I think the hardest time I had was with sleeping. I wanted so bad to sleep on my side, but your body say "not yet! not yet! not yet! Then one night you'll go to bed and you'll find you'll be able to sleep on your side if only for just a little while. It will get better and better until you'll feel normal sleeping again. I hated sleeping on my back!
In spite of your complications you sound like your doing good. Take those walks as they are the best thing for you. Before you know it you'll feel 100% better!
Take care!

 

[VillageX]

I'm new here too.

I'm new here too.

Mimi314, congratulations on your recovery to date. It sounds like things are going well.

I had my surgery in May, and I also found that sleeping was the most difficult part. I normally sleep flat on the bed with one pillow under my head; and I preferred sleeping on either side. When I was in the hospital, I slept in more of a sitting up position in the bed; but I tried to get lower and lower in anticipation of coming home. However, I had a tough time getting the incline I needed to be comfortable at home. I had to build a little mountain of pillows for support, and still had a tough time getting comfortable.

I remember, as you have said, how much I wanted to just lay on my side; but when I finally tried, I couldn't even get started in that direction before the pain kicked in. I worked on being patient and decreasing the incline gradually. Then one morning, I woke up on my side. From there, I could lay on my side if I got in that position by sitting up and then rolling over as I lay back. After a while, I was able to roll over onto my side as I pleased.

Now that I can lay almost any way I want, I seem to prefer laying on my back more than I ever did before.

I think the best advice is that your body will tell you when it is time.

 

[mimi314]

sleep problems

sleep problems

I think part of my problem is I'm still feeling some movement in my sternum. Is that normal three weeks after surgery? I know it takes about 6 weeks to heal, but it's real spooky thinking I'm doing damage to it when I make the wrong moves. I'm not doing anything strenuous, just normal around the house stuff.

 

[Brade]

I had my surgery on Nov. 8th. and I still feel some Popping/clicking when I move a certain way. It doesn' really have any pain associated with it though.

 

[VillageX]

Re: sleep problems

Re: sleep problems

I think part of my problem is I'm still feeling some movement in my sternum. Is that normal three weeks after surgery? I know it takes about 6 weeks to heal, but it's real spooky thinking I'm doing damage to it when I make the wrong moves. I'm not doing anything strenuous, just normal around the house stuff.

That sounds pretty much like my experience too; and it is a little scarry when it happens. The worst thing, as I am sure others here can attest, is when you have to sneeze. The first time I sneezed, I thought I had killed myself. It felt like the right sde of my chest went one way and the left side went another. But I think even that feeling is normal. In retrospect, I think I was much less fragile than I felt at the time.

 

[mimi314]

sneezing

sneezing

I guess I should have put this on the post-op thread...but all my other stuff was on the pre-op. Now I'm stuck.
I had heard about the dreaded sneeze. Fortunately, my first one was a long time coming. And when it finally did, it didn't hurt at all! At least not around my incision. I have a "crick" in my right shoulder since I was in the hospital that gives me fits, though. It moves around and sometimes takes my breath away when I have to take a deep breath. Until I can find a comfortable sleeping spot, I think it'll be with me.
Coughing was my real problem at first. I couldn't find the right size pillow to cushion it and since I developed so much fluid in my chest, there was a lot of coughing going on.

 

[Brade]

I agree with the sneezing observation. The first time I sneezed it felt like a white hot knife was being shoved in my left chest, thought I was going to die!

 

[mimi314]

Thanks

Thanks

By the way...thanks to both Brad and VillageX for your comments. You've helped me get through today. Any suggestions for depression?

 

[McCln]

Mimi, Brade, and VillageX

Mimi, Brade, and VillageX

So glad you guys had made it through with so little in the way of complications. I have the problem of slouching and have to get up once in a while to the get stiffness out of the chestplate. I am glad you are posting and that will help you in your recovery. You three get your exercise, even if it is walking, It is very important to walk everyday. You will be feeling better soon. Just pace yourselves and not rush the recovery. You see by the posts that is does take time to recovery. The chestplate seems to the last to heal, with the muscles mending, because they were stretched during surgery. Just take care and do not lift heavy things till the doctor tells you is it safe to pick up more. Do not strain yourselves. Keep on smiling and you will feel much more better soon.

Caroline
09-13-01
Aortic valve replacement
St. Jude's valve

 

[VillageX]

Re: Thanks

Re: Thanks

By the way...thanks to both Brad and VillageX for your comments. You've helped me get through today. Any suggestions for depression?

I think I had to spend a little time alone with my thoughts to sort everything out emotionally. I read a lot and listened to music when I was by myself. When I was still in the hospital, a few days after surgery, I got real emotional, and would cry over the least little thing, even happy things. I had no idea that the pump causes this in some people; and I thought it was the pain medicine. So I quit the Percoset after about day 3. The doctor finally explained to me that it was normal and would go away in a few days.

I still felt a little "down" when I came home, and even though I had family around, I felt a little lonely and sorry for myself. I think the first thing I had to do in dealing with this was to convince myself that it is normal and okay to feel that way. And I didn't know about this forum at that time either; and I really think it would have been easier if I had. I think it would have been great to talk with people who knew what I was going through. One of the "depressing" things is feeling like you are the only person in the world who understands.

I also found the walks to be helpful. I needed the exorcize anyway, and the walking was therapeutic in a lot of ways. One thing that I noticed after a few weeks was how much easier I was handling the walks than I would have been able to have done before surgery. Seeing the improvement helped me to appreciate the need for the surgery in the first place.

My best advice for depression is to be patient with yourself, and get involved in things that interest you as much as possible. Once you start to realize that you'll be able to get back into the swing of things easily enough, you can start to focus on things other than the surgery, and you might even notice how much better you feel than before the surgery.

 

[sylviayasgur]

hi barbara!
i'm so glad to hear you're doing well. aren't you glad that the worst is behind you?
there is a thread that peter easton started after his surgery (sometime in early sept) about post op depression. you might want to take a peek at it.
i understand that a certain amount of depression after open heart surgery is very normal. they prepped my dad who had a st.jude's put in 2 1/2 yrs ago, and told him he might be depressed after surgery.
i think many of us get very sentimental and appreciative of life after the "ordeal" . can you blame us?
just keep feeling well and let us know how you 're doing.
be well,
sylvia