What does it feel like when you wake up?

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We are all so different!!

My angiogram was a month before. I'm squeemish so they doped me up really well. All I remember was a squiggly feeling for awhile. They offered to have me looking at the screen and I said NO WAY, thanks!! Blehhh.

At my pre-op meeting at the hospital for the AVR, I mentioned that I'd heard (from vr.com, of course!) there was an amnesia drug and that I'd be thrilled if they wanted to use it on me. Apparently they did! I don't remember the breathing tube at all. The drainage tubes came out with the count of 3...wierd, but not bad. Most of CICU I cannot recall. Only the last part when they were rousting me mentally to get me ready to be moved to the cardiac ward. The very first thing I actually remember (which I've described elsewhere) is trying to reach for the ice chips cup to the side of my bed. I could not make my hand move and everything was spinning and way whacky. I remember laughing to myself at how stoned I was! and then drifted back to sleep without another thought. The next memory is of my husband holding one hand and my daughter holding the other and them smiling the most beautiful smiles I've ever seen at me. I think at that moment I knew it was all good. I don't remember ever asking how I was. It was as if I knew how I was... I was there!!! I remember very warm moist washcloths and a lovely, story-telling young nurse. Then I got moved to the regular cardiac floor.

I think I made a very VERY conscious effort to go into the hospital to be an A+, cooperative patient. I encouraged jokes and acknowledged my confidence in all who were taking care of me. I wanted to let everyone know how grateful I was, and how happy I was to be there at their hospital. I smiled whenever I could, thanked whenever I could, talked about my wonderful family whenever I could. Just tried to keep the boat sailing in a positive direction. This worked very well for me.

You will find whatever works for you, too! And you will make it happen in the best way that you can. Because you must. Because we are dealt this little bump in the road and we make our way over it.

Hopefully some of everyone's comments will resonate for you when you need them most. We've all needed others.

I'm sure you'll do great!!

Marguerite
 
I woke up in CICU trying to ask a question "Did he do a repair or a Ross?" I was hoping for a repair if possible and the Ross if the repair wasn't possible. The problem at that point was the breathing tube was still down my throat. After my wife said "I don't understand what you want" a couple of times, I motioned for a pen. I wrote, in very poor penmanship since my hands were tied down, "Ross?". When informed that it was the Ross, my wife said I made a face like "Oh, Damn.."

A while later, I was trying to swallow because the tube made me feel like something was in my throat. My wife kept telling me to "relax, don't swallow you have a breathing tube down your throat". I again motioned for a pen and wrote "Easy for you to say".

Those first words are shown below. Many thanks to Priscila for being able to interpret...

View attachment 4718


That lasted a couple of hours and then they decided I was awake enough and breathing well enough to remove the tube. Tube removal was only midly unpleasant for a few seconds (no big deal really).

My throat was not sore but the ice chips were a godsend since the anesthetic and the oxygen really dry out your mouth.

I had almost no "pain". I had soreness that was alieviated with oral vicoprofen every six hours for the first day then morning and night after that.

My first move to a chair, in CICU approximately 12 hours post surgery was a little tentative and midly uncomfortable. But after that moving around was pretty easy for me. It took a couple of time of practice to get in and out of bed without using my arms to lift. By day 3 even that was a piece of cake.

I think for me knowing to expect the tube and not freaking out about it since it was expected was a good thing for me. I've never been hit by a truck so I can't compare the feeling. I felt like I had surgery and a little frustrated at feeling a little incapacitated after since I felt just fine before. Overall though I felt pretty darn good for having my chest cracked open and heart valves switched around. I felt like I could go home on day two but was OK with staying until day three (except for having to sleep in the hospital again - it is way to loud there). I was definitely NOT going to stay until day four.

I felt great on day three when I got home and probably did a little too much for my physical capacity. I walked down alongside the creek by our house and then back up the hill to my house (with my wife). A very slow walk (very slow) but much farther than I had walked in the hospital. I also walked around in the house (i.e. office, kitchen, bathroom, kitchen, bedroom, bathroom, office, kitchen, etc...). WAY WAY more walking that I did in the hospital. My heart protested that much activity later that night with a two hour bout of elevated heart rate. So, I learned to moderate my walking below what I felt capable of (for a few days).

I also found a way to disarm the pain of sneezing (forcefully exhale from your mouth while sneezing - it relieves the pressure and eliminates the pain).

I've been walking 3 miles a day (for the last couple of weeks) and could go further but I'm limited in the time I can spend walking. 3 miles currently takes me one hour (keeping the HR at 120 - 130) and I don't have more time available.

No lifting over ten pounds for the first four weeks and no heavy lifting for the first eight weeks. I was released to drive at 5 weeks (probably would have been earlier but that was my surgeon's first available follow up appointment).

Overall - for me - it hasn't been as bad as I anticipated. I can tell I had surgery and still have quite a bit of healing to do. Coughing still hurts like crazy and I am still a little sore if I sit in the wrong position too long.

I never had ANY back or shoulder pain that others have mentioned.

More than you asked for, but that has been my experience so far.

Good luck,
David
 
THIRSTY THIRSTY THIRSTY. There just wasn't enough water in the world for me. They tried that icky glop that's supposed to "moisten" your mouth (try a tablespoon of vaseline - blech); just wanted water and manipulated everyone as much as possible.

Pain - nah. Great meds.

Tube - don't remember it in, do remember removal - not pleasant, but not bad.

Noise - my icu was incredibly noisy - people crying and yelling - guess some folks have trouble coming out of anesthesia. Take a cd player/mp3/ipod with you so you can tune out the racket. I found it all very stressful and disturbing; when hubby brought in the cd player Herr Mozart took care of that for me.
 
My experience was very similar to Adrienne's and Kate's. I knew the tube would be there, and I knew it would be all right, because it would already have kept me alive for several hours. You know you'll have it, so there's no point in fighting against it. Embrace it. The tube is my friend, who breathed for me for the last five hours.

When I woke up, the first thought that I remember is, "I made it." That set the tone for the whole ICU session. I was absolutely delighted.

I had some trouble waking up all the way. I would wake up, scribble notes, they'd figure I was ready to have the tube pulled out, and...I would pass out and stop breathing, so they couldn't do it. In between I was lucid. My wife notes that I correctly used the word "soporific" during one of the first wakings - then had to define it for one of the nurses. My wife, the PA, and a couple of nurses had formed a semicircle in front of me by that time.

My right hand was taped to a metal piece on the bed, just in case. It took the PA and nurses a little while to realize that I was right-handed. I had been writing legible notes to them upside-down with my left hand. Then my eyes would roll up, and I'd pass out again. My son came in after a while, and joined the group. My memories of that time are easily recalled, but are a series of interactive movie-like snatches between unconscious intermissions. I can even recall the view as my eyes rolled back, and someone in the background saying, "Oops! There he goes again."

Used to working with confused, uninformed, and older people, the PA at one point shouted right into my ear, "THERE'S A TUBE IN YOUR THROAT TO HELP YOU BREATHE!" It was so loud, it actually hurt. I glared at her and wrote back, "Neither deaf nor stupid." The PA was visibly taken aback. My son, on seeing the note, said, "That's my dad! He's back!" and was jubilant.

The tube was kind of fun, in a weird way. You can't breathe against it. My machine wasn't making enough noise for me to time myself to it, so...I just didn't breathe. A unique feeling. What other vacation can you go on where you not only don't have to get up to pee, but you don't even have to breathe?

I never felt that I wasn't getting enough oxygen, or like I was choking or panicking. I am claustrophobic and have a terrific gag reflex, but it just wasn't a problem. The tube is my friend. Attitude is key.

I was glad to get it out, as it meant I was graduating from an extemely Intensive Care patient to a somewhat Intensive Care post-surgical patient. And that I was flying under my own control again. But it really wasn't bad while it was in.

The tube removal process begins with a little fish tank vaccuum being sent down the tube to remove any excess juiciness in the lungs. The rest is reminiscent of a magician performing with a colorful handkerchief. He pulls it from the stooge's mouth, but there's another attached. Then another, and another. It seems to go on and on, with the tube being pulled out hand over hand, emerging like rope from a well or clowns from a car. However, it really only takes a few seconds. Surprisingly, I didn't even get a slight gag reflex out of it. Again, attitude is everything.

I gorged on a flood of ice chips from the first moment I was left alone with the ICU nurse (it was a one-to-one ratio in the cardiac ICU). I couldn't get enough. As soon as he realized I wasn't going to throw up from it, he gave me all I wanted. And it was a lot. I was wide awake all night, and indescribably pleased with myself for being alive. Chomping ice and grinning like a fool. I have to believe that the morphine played some part in my lunacy (I didn't start on Fentanyl until the next day), but I remember it quite vividly. It's the best party I ever had by myself.

Best wishes,
 
Tick!!!

Tick!!!

I remember my first concious thought. I still had my eyes closed and I did not even notice my surroundings or that the tube was still in buIt I heard the slow and stedy click and thought."they did not repair my valve they had to replace it", then back to slumberland. ( I will never forget that moment!)

The next thing I remember was my husband being beside the bed and I noticed that the tube was still in and I frantically pointed to it and then proceded to gag. At that point they removed the tube.

(I made my husband solemnly swear that he would not leave the hospital until the tube was removed!!!!) Bless his heart, he waited against the nurses prompting to go home and rest!

I had the best nursing care possible!!! I was in the Cardiovascular Surgery unit from the night before surgery until I left. They do not do step-down. It was awesome! It probably helps that I'm a nurse. Of course, that got passed down from shift to shift!

Nobody likes to upset the nurse that is a patient!!!!!!!

Like others, I was ready for the surgery. SOB, dizziness, fatigue, etc.; How could it be worse than that?

I was 36 when I had my surgery. You will do fine.
 
I was pretty fortunate myself to wake up without the breathing tube. It was taken out before I left the OR. I do remember waking up, and my first throughts were, OK, I'm not ticking, so my valve must have been repaired; and, Why are my mom and husband staring at me? :p

However, I did have an arm brace on my right arm, I suppose to keep me from pulling at the myriad of IVs in it. I don't recall the "feeling like I was hit by a truck" sensation, but my eyes were very heavy and I just wanted to close them. I was tired and my mouth felt like the desert. I'd begged my husband for ice chips and the CICU nurse had warned him about giving me too much, but although I don't remember saying so, Mike still teases me about saying, "More please," each time he spooned a little bit of ice into my mouth.

I'm not sure what you mean about the 6-8 weeks out thing, but I'm now seven months out and the whole experience still seems surreal. Because my scar is underneath my breast, I never see it, so I'm not constantly reminded of The Surgery. I do think about my valve surgery a lot, though (I know that might seem contradictory). Usually it's in the context of, "Wow, I've got a ring attached to my valve," and it'll hit me in the middle of teaching class and I'll get taken aback for a moment. Other times I'll get a strange symptom and wonder, How is this going to affect my valve, or is this valve-related? For me, 2006 went by in a blur. Things went smoothly until I got "sick" in April, I waited two months for surgery, recovered another two, went back to work, and am just now starting to feel normal again. Life's not the same, but it's better in so many ways.

Good luck to you--
Debi (debster913)
30 at the time of surgery...now 31 and feeling like me again!
 
My double valve replacement surgey began at 9:00 on a Wednesday morning and the last thing I remember before the surgery is saying see you later to my family. I was given the option of being under sedation prior to being moved to the operating room and I took that option. When I was put under, the only tubes were my IV's. My operation took six hours but I have no memory of waking up until late evening and the ventilator tube was already gone. My first thoughts were, where was I? Then I remember thinking that I must be in the ICU which meant that I was alive! I wasn't in any pain so I assume they had given me pain meds. My family had already gone home. The nursing staff noticed I was awake and came over to see if I needed anything. I was lucky and didn't have a sore throat! I didhave a new heart pillow next to me on the bed. I hope everything goes as smoothly for you! Marcie
 
Linda -

Like you, I had my heart cath on a Thursday, spent the night at the hospital and then had surgery the next morning. The cath (which was a bigger deal than I'd imagined) went smoothly. I was very happy to spend the night in the hospital, rather than drive in from my home that morning.

On Friday morning, I was waiting in the pre-op area when the anesthesia fellow (and then the anesthesiologist) came by to see me. Based on all of the good coaching I'd gotten here on VR.com, I was very clear about what I should tell them. My (pretty much) exact words: "I'm a little anxious this morning, so as soon as you can give me something to take the edge off, I'd love it. Also, I don't want to remember any part of the breathing tube. Anything you can do would be MUCH appreciated."

They delivered on both counts -- my last memory before surgery was my husband kissing me goodbye...I drifted off before I was out of the pre-op area. Just loved that.

Then, in what seemed like a split second, I opened my eyes and everything -- literally and figuratively -- was a total blur. (I just now realized, reading Ruth's post, that part of my blurriness was not wearing my contacts or glasses. 8 months later...and I just put that together.) I was in the CICU, but I was so out of it, I really didn't know --or care -- where I was. No memory of the tube. No pain (as has been mentioned, great drugs take care of that). I just have snippets of moments -- begging for ice chips, feeling so grateful for that first delicious sip of gingerale. I recall being aware that I had some numbness in my left leg (it was positional and resolved on its own after a few days). But honestly, I was really pretty much out of it during the first 24 hours that I was in the CICU...my first clear memories are waking up in a regular room on Saturday afternoon. (I think I got the same amnesia drug that Marguerite got...my experience was remarkably similar.)

The anesthesia and the drugs were terrific. I never really had much pain, just lots of soreness and discomfort.

Frankly, the worst part of the whole experience was that last week prior to surgery. I just wanted it to be over! I never really freaked out, I just tried to keep myself busy with activities. I was so happy when we checked in to the hospital that Thursday...the time had finally come...and I was going to get fixed.

Kristine
 
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