Why does our recovery take longer than other major surgeries?

[67walkon]

A younger-32 years old-guy at my office suffered a really bad broken leg last Wednesday night. They operated in the middle of the night, putting in a titanium rod, etc. Today is Sunday, and he is still on morphine. They are telling him they might let him go home Tuesday, which is about the same amount of time most of us are in the hospital. He has to be in a wheel chair for at least 5 weeks.

So why are there no restrictions on him going back to work, as there are with us? The trauma to his body was probably worse, except they didn't turn his heart off.

What makes OHS have a longer recovery time than other very traumatic surgeries to other parts of the body? I'm just curious to know.

John

 

[Lisa in Katy]

I'm not sure, but I'm going to assume that you are serious.

Very quick rundown of heart surgery. This isn't exactly accurate for all surgeries, but you get my drift.

They first lower your body temperature to an unnatural level. They cut through your bone and muscle, which happens to be the bone and muscle most affected by breathing. They bend your back and shoulders at an abnormal angle. They stop your heart and then cut into it, at least that is true for a mitral valve. They remove a vital portion of your heart and replace it with the next best thing, but still not as good as a healthy, original valve. The heart is then immediately put back to work in order to keep your circulatory system going. Without the circulatory system, none of the other systems in our body would work. A leg, on the other hand, is a convenience, but not even necessary.

I personally am amazed that your coworker is still in the hospital. That is quite uncommon for a young, healthy individual who has undergone orthopedic surgery. When my son broke his arm badly and needed pins (not quite the same, but still), he had outpatient surgery. Even so, I am sure that his doctors are recommending that he be off work for 6 weeks. I was off for 6 weeks after a laparoscopic hysterectomy, which is hardly invasive. The restrictions for heart surgery are really just recommendations by the doctor. It is up to you and your employer to determine how to deal with it. Not all jobs require a doctor's release to go back to work.

 

[geebee]

OHS affects every system in the body vs a section of broken bone. Recovery from OHS is like a complete reboot of a system vs just restarting one program.

 

[hensylee]

I had a major surgery involving removal of a large tumor and the recovery time was a lot longer; maybe a year or more, once out of the hospital. I wonder if it may be because of the disturbance of things internally and actually opening the body cavity to work on major organs? Maybe one of our doctors on board will jump in on this.

Ross' son was in an awful car accident and he is not well yet - it happened during the Christmas holidays. He can't work; can hardly walk, has pins in his ankle. He's on a very long haul and won't ever be the same.

 

[debster913]

I'm sure that heart surgery does take longer to recover from than other surgeries, but at the same time, there are other surgeries that take longer to recover from than OHS/MIS.

My mom had a Whipple procedure/removal of part of her pancreas on May 2. She just came home last Monday, and is still very much dependent on family/home care to function. From what I've researched, the Whipple takes a very long time to recover from--the bile duct from the liver is re-routed to the small intestines (don't quote me on that, but it's still very invasive). The recovery time is about 10 days--it's been a month and a half and my mom is still recovering.

But yeah, I do understand where you're coming from. I just had my valve repair a year ago yesterday, and I am finally feeling like myself. It may not always be the physical recovery, but the whole body recovery. My cardio and surgeon both told me it would take about a year to finally feel like "me" again. They were right.

 

[TenPly]

OHS affects every system in the body vs a section of broken bone. Recovery from OHS is like a complete reboot of a system vs just restarting one program.

Excellent analogy. You can't rush recovery, it's gradual -- sometimes frustratingly slow. But as long as you follow your doctor's instructions and use your better judgement, it'll be a steady and uneventful recovery.

When I came home from the hospital, all the simple things like walking from one room to another were exhausting and I'd wake up constantly during the night. I overcame that after a while. Long story short, within 2 weeks I was driving myself to my follow-up appointments. 3-4 weeks post-op, I was running on the treadmill. Do all the right things without pushing yourself, and you'll be up and at it in no time.

 

[Ross]

Heart surgery is major trauma to the body and body systems. Virtually everything about life is affected. It's a completely different ball game and can in no way be compared to broken leg.

 

[Elcarim]

I've had two cesareans as well as my two OHSs. While the cesareans were also very invasive the recovery was a piece of cake, even with a newborn to look after. I was out of bed within 12 hours.

As mentioned above, with OHS it is your whole body on the line. Your blood is run through a machine, your body is cooled right down, your heart is stopped, your lungs deflated. The drugs required for this are very powerful as well. They also tend to be quite long procedures and often the patient is not completely healthy beforehand.

 

[Bradley White]

Three words: HEART-LUNG MACHINE