Jeanne's Guestbook

Jeanne Saporito  Thank you Nancy. I appreciate so much your support. Yes I am finding Its better to take it in small doses but once I get through one thing I'm surprised to hear something more. I think I'm still in shock over this. I've had very mild symptoms which are beginning to get worth SOB but have been warned that the surgery is necessary and the sooner the better I thought I was over the initial shock being I was so pleased to meet my surgeon and the odds of a valve repair is 95 to 98% With a possible bovine replacement with the other 2% But now I'm feeling paralyzed with the thought of the surgery. When you had your preop appointment two weeks before Did they review with you everything to prepare you emotionally on how you'll come out of surgery? Can you share with me what it was like when you came out of surgery ? Although every person is different I find the more I know the better. You mentioned 11 months postop How are you doing ?

Jeanne Saporito  thank you Tammy for the post I just read your profile and see your very spiritual. So my. I usually can let things go and just put everything in Gods hands. I think that's where the struggle is- i've seen the miracles that have gotten me this far but somehow I'm afraid The post up healing. I don't have a lot of family and I live alone and I'm told they won't send me to a rehab center although I will certainly advocate for it if I feel the need is there Thank you for your support that beautiful card you posted was very inspiring.

Jean Raber  Jeanne, the info you get pre-op really is a crap shoot. I suggest that you ask everybody on your cardiac team specifically how they're going to help you with the mental aspects of your surgery and what resources will be available to you. Make sure that whoever your point person in the hospital is understands that they may need to keep on the staff about this.

When is your surgery scheduled? I don't have a date yet, just another evaluation in September. While it's nerve-wracking, having some time does help you become better prepared.

Long backstory: I was my mom's caregiver after AVR two years ago. No one told us about there were any mental effects of heart surgery, and we didn't know to ask. She was 83. I was just worried that she could make it through the surgery itself, even though I have no trouble grilling doctors and getting them to speak plainly.

Once Mom was home, the physical care was exhausting, but nothing compared to the perplexing attitude she had. Why wasn't she grateful? Why was she being such a bitch? Why wouldn't she try to help herself more? Why didn't she get better faster? Why wouldn't she eat? Why wouldn't she talk to her friends on the phone? A good deal of her delayed recovery was lack of compliance. And I think part of her lack of compliance was because she was mentally unprepared to try to work through the bad days.

The experience with my mother was such that, when I was surprised by the news last December that I would need mitral valve surgery, I told the cardiologist, no thanks. I'd rather be grateful for 61 good years and die. I am coming around, thanks in part to the fact that my mother has been in pretty good shape for the past year, and in part to the info and support in this community.

Meredith Bray  Waking up from surgery is a moment I will never forget! My eyes were open for about 3 seconds and this is what went through my mind:
"Wow, someone put my glasses on for me.
There's the clock, it's 2:30
HEY, I'M ALIVE!
The sun is shining through the window.
Thank God!"
And then I passed out for another 2 hours. By 5:30 I was sitting up in a chair. I never felt (or looked at) the catheter or any of the drain tubes. The worst pain was in my upper back. It was a combination of the surgical position, the drain tubes, and my reluctance to relax my muscles. The nest thing you can do now to help prevent back pain is continue to swim, and have excellent posture.
Don't get me wrong, there were moments of extreme discomfort as I was being moved from chair to bed and back, and I didn't sleep real well in the hospital because of the back pain. But I was off narcotic pain pills 48 hours after surgery, taking tylenol only.
I think the best day of my recovery was the day I could get back in to the pool. Floating was the best thing ever!
Meredith

Nancy D  Jeanne- I wrote a very wordy response yesterday, to your questions for me and now I do not see it. Perhaps I exceeded the words allowed for a post. ;-) I will try to shorten my recap here:

My preop with my surgeon was 45 minutes with him starting with his ideas, plan and review of my tests; and then I asked the questions I had remaining on my list!(Yes, I wrote them down and went over them at each appointment with each doctor!)
He sent me to the pre-op appointment and class with a cardiac nurse a few days later. The class included a video of what to expect in each phase from admission to discharge. We could ask any questions (again I had a list) and she answered them fully. I am a nurse, but never been a cardiac nurse so this was very different for me. They did cover things to bring, things to leave home and how to prepare at home prior to the procedure. She told me the morning after surgery I would be up and in a chair between 6-7am for the surgeon to make rounds. It wasn't easy but each time they get you up, you get better at it. Deep breathing is key to not getting pneumonia, and walking decreases issues that come from being in bed too long.
Immediate post op waking up is a bit fuzzy, but I do not remember the breathing tube in or coming out. My first memory is my best friend talking with my husband around 6pm the evening of surgery and I remember talking with her, but not clear on what I said. My next memory is sometime late that evening into the night awaking so very thirsty and my one on one nurse was right beside my bed monitoring me. He gave me my first ice chips and that was amazing!! While I kept asking for more, he was slow to give me all I wanted to keep nausea at bay. I remember asking for pain medication and soon was back asleep until yes, around 615 the next morning I was awakened to get into the chair, which was about 3-4 feet from my bed. Once the surgeon made rounds, I thought I was going back to bed, but was up in that chair until lunch time when PT came in to walk me- I thought to the door but they meant down the hall!!!They took care of the IV, chest tube and catheter and I held on to the walker for dear life. I made it back to bed, got more pain meds and slept the afternoon away.
If I can answer any questions for you that you want to ask off the board please feel free to ask via email and my address is: zizzr@hotmail.com
I hope this post stays on the board this time.....
Nancy