Ginger's Journal

Robyn Tatu  I hope you can get some good rest tonight. I will be among those sending you strength and prayers.

LaDonna Mangile  Good luck with your surgery and recovery. I hope you are able to sleep tonight....just being in a hosp room may make it tougher...unless they bring you a sleeper! My thoughts and prayers go out to yiu! God Bless!

Linda Whitney  Ginger, I trust you are through the worst of it and on your way. It's 6pm in AK so you should be off the vent as well. I'm glad you shared they like to get you off within 6 hours, because that is one of my concerns. Check in with us when you can.

Ginger Murphy  well i am out of the hospital 2 weeks now...been 3 since surgery...all went well...was off vent the day of surgery but i remember nothing after telling the nurse and anesthesiologist i stopped the nurse from retrying one of the lines in my vein in arm......so the 19th was surgery....got out of hospital the following monday, had home nurse care once a week....first week was rough taking showers without bar or chair in my home shower but after that week i was almost back to normal..... no stitches in chest..they glued it....leg for bypass the scar was short...3" tops.... wonderful experience in hospital....nurses were great was up showering with in 2 days...they only covered the ports.....felt weird when they pulled wires and tubes out....drs and nurses were surprised that i was up and about so fast......still working on walking more and more....but i actually did some raking this weekend at my camper...just a lil bit.....felt good not to depend on someone to do things for me for a change

Penny Prichard  Positive notes and healing hugs your way. I'm having my surgery Thursday too. I will be thinking about you

Linda Whitney  Ginger, I am sending hugs and positive energy to help you relax and get on the healing end of this. Bless you.

Penny Prichard  I hope your kids are taking this quick journey ok. I know you said they get emotional. You are probably lucky you didn't have a long wait to get ready

Bob M  I pray your surgery and recovery will be textbook and uneventful. Thursday will be a new day for you with a fixed heart. God bless and rise up!

Ginger Murphy  The kids are doing well tho scared...I think the anticipation wasn't helping but I made sure the support swstem is there for them as well

Ginger Murphy  I will be glad to get this over with... ..def getting tissue valve...met surgeon and a couple pas that work with him had nurses lagging...

Ginger Murphy  kids did great.....guess i prepped them just right.....ty for all the well wishes and thoughs and prayers....i know that helped a lot.....i often think of you all and hope your journey is as uneventful as mine.....Surgeon says i dont have to go back unless there are complications. that was before the 3 week milestone. see the cardiologist on the 30th for a mini stress test?? pt and ot ...figured out that i didnt need their help...lol well gee..guess thats cus i took care of myself and didnt have a heart attack first.....i went to the dr and had the surgery before that could happen......

Lewis Garlisi  Hi Ginger. Sounds like its time to start focusing on your surgery. Its good that you are thinking ahead about your recovery when you get home. Initially you will a lot of help with simple everyday matters. Your family should be ready for this. You will get better and become more independant, but it can be a very slow process. As mentioned in earlier posts, everyone's recovery time is different. Ask your health care profedsionals questions. May want to bring a family member with you to your pre-op appointments. Best wishes.

LaDonna Mangile  Getting a date will make you feel better at least it did me. I stopped working just yesterday just too fatiqued and not handling stress well. Keep us posted!

Kimberly Biddick  Good job on focusing on yourself and taking care of YOU. Please continue to keep us posted. Hopefully it is scheduled soon!

Ginger Murphy  3 of my kids will be with me tuesday for the angiogram....will probably ask many questions then...as i am sure my kids will as well hopefully thats the day i find out when the surgery is...tho he said if things are bad enough they may do it that day (i so would love to get it over with) that way the kids dont have to take another day offa work....

Bob M  I pray that your surgery and recovery will be uneventful. I pray that your son and daughter will see you on Day 1 after your surgery and will see you sitting in a chair. They will be amazed. God bless and rise up!

Daniel Spurgeon  Most of the tubes will be covered up by your gown. The swan catheter in your neck will be the most obvious, but isn't large. The arm connections shouldn't be visually startling.

Ginger Murphy  ty for helping ease my mind....so afraid of being on the ventilator when i get out of surgery.....that will be what upsets them the most.....hoping i wont be seen by them on that.....

Penny Prichard  None of my grandkids will be with me when I have surgery. I'm doing it alone. I can't have them 3 hours away from home and have a meltdown

Ginger Murphy  Penny you really should have someone there for you.....and if you dont have your family with you....and they find out the meltdown will be much worse.... believe me i know my kids ....so i have been prepping them .....

Ginger Murphy  i really have no clue what to expect just bare minimal basics. the dr says i shoud be in hospital about 5 days?? and back to work 6-8 weeks after surgery....but how long will i be on the machines (that part scares me) and how long before i can drive ...stuff like that??

Duane Beeman  I had no idea what to expect either until I found this site. There are SO many helpful people on here. Just start cruising the site and reading the conversations and most every question you have will be answered.

Jim Kelly-Evans  Ginger, you will have pre-op consultations with your surgeon. He or she will explain the details of your surgery to you and you'll have the opportunity to ask as many questions as you want. I know it's all scary at this point but these operations are routine now and you'll be fine. I just went through the whole thing and I'm home now recovering and feeling better all the time.

Pat Bluemel  Ginger, you'll learn that all of us have different milestones and outcomes. We can give you our experience but yours will be different, that is the biggest thing I've learned from this group. Write all the questions down that are nagging you and take them to your pre op appointments, get them all answered if you can't find the answers here - helps a lot. You're going to do great.

Pat Bluemel  As for the machines you won't be aware of them so don't put too much thought into worrying about them. And driving, it's usually 4 weeks to 6 weeks you see all variations of that timeline on this site. I'm headed in to beg my doctor to let me start driving soon and I am just shy of three weeks out. Fingers crossed.

Jim Gleason  Your first post sounds just like my first one before my surgery on 1/21/15. Today I was released to return to work on Monday. You will have excellent care. Let the nurses know of any discomfort. The experts in cardiac intensive care unit and on the cardio ward were great for my recovery. I was out in 5 days. I think this is typical. After surgery( I had my aortic valve replaced) I had more tubes and wires inside me than I ever imagined. They come out after a day or two. While the removal is uncomfortable I was glad to be rid of them and able to walk about the ward.
Hang in there and you have our ear if need be.

Lenore Mitchell  Ginger (nice name!) - as others have said, we all start out with many questions and lots of anxiety, but it helps to read stories on this site. Good luck.

Ginger Murphy  thanks Lenore.....and everyone guess it helps to know people who are going thru or have gone thru the same thing...mine will be the aortic valve as well... i go thru the catheritization on the 17th...then they will schedule the surgery....wish they would do both on the same day...