christine's Journal

MV repair via sternotomy with Dr. Kevin Accola at AdventHealth Orlando on 3/5 was a success and I finally got discharged yesterday (Monday). The first night in ICU I went into AFib but the external pacer got me back into rhythm pretty quickly. Then my BP and HR were too low so they gave me lots of fluids which did the trick but put 12 pounds on me, causing my right lung to have fluid build up. They drained it and then came Lasix to eliminate the fluids, which brought down my potassium levels. The end result is it may have added a couple of days to my stay but I felt so cared for and lucky to have come through everything well.
I do remember waking up on the vent and trying desperately to tell my husband I felt SOB and my throat hurt. I kept writing AIR on his hand with my fingers and they thought I meant I was warm!
The hardest part for me is the loss of appetite. I only had a few bites of food the first three days.I got some appetite back yesterday but not much. I'm walking 3x a day, a bit more each day and it feels great. I generally feel great until about 3pm, then feel like someone slipped me a sedative😃.
In the hospital I was on muscle relaxers, Tylenol and dilaudid for pain but dropped dilaudid after two days. I was sent home with the muscle relaxers and Tylenol, plus the last couple of doses of steroid and aspirin. I am off the beta blockers after 14 years! Some muscle pain in back, shoulders and neck but incision/bone pain is pretty minor, mostly when cough or getting in and out of bed.
Overall, the entire experience was not as bad as I imagined it to be. Having always been in great health otherwise and never having had surgery before, I was expecting a much scarier experience.
Reading all of your experiences and recommendations helped tremendously! Thanks to Adam for his dedication to this site, it is truly invaluable.