Sunday 16 August 2009

Beginning to Recover

Once I was in the regular Cardiac Recovery Ward my main preoccupation was to try and breathe normally.

I had a little nose thingy that supplied oxygen and the nurses were constantly encouraging me to try and cough.

That hurt. I was given a red pillow to hug when I coughed or moved or in any way put stress on my broken breast bone and chest. That helped.

These red pillows are made by volunteers. Mine came from a lady in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia. She has my gratitude. That little pillow helped me through the early days as I took my first post-operative steps. It must have been quite a pitiful sight as I well know from watching the others in my ward.

There we were, slightly hunched from the pain, clutching our little red pillows in a bear hug, pressing them to our chests with both arms and shuffling along, trying to get from our bed to the end of the hall and back.

The pain was bad but the mantra was, "Don't try to be a hero. Take your pain medications."

The idea is that by taking the pain medication you would be able to get up and move around a little. That is what helps you to heal but most of all, it helps to get your lungs back in operation after they were collapsed during the surgery.

I didn't like the pain medication because a whole day would pass in a haze but the nurses are right, without the pain medication you sure don't feel like getting up and walking around.

The first week was a little rough but after five days I was released to go home.
Posted by Steve Dobson at 11:52 pm
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4 comments:

  1. Donna18 August 2009 at 10:45

    I have followed your blog, as my husband is scheduled for surgery on Friday, 8/21, and I am absolutely terrified. How are you doing now? Have you had any complications?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Steve Dobson19 August 2009 at 06:36

    Hi Donna,

    Try not to be too afraid. What he is living with now, before the surgery, is probably riskier than the surgery.

    The truth is, open heart surgery is pretty common and the practitioners are well experienced. I think complications are very rare now a'days.

    That doesn't mean I wasn't scared witless myself, just that I probably shouldn't have been.

    I was home for about six weeks after my bypass and then started a 12 week rehabilitation program. I was back at work part-time in about eight weeks.

    The only issues I've had were an unpleasant reaction to one of the drugs and a bad case of the blues. The drug reaction was fixed by a phone call to my doctor. I'm still working on the blues.

    I've bought a pedometer and am making a real effort to walk 10,000 steps every day. That has been perking me up a bit. I guess as I get physically beter my mood improves too.

    Recovery takes time but I'm seeing small improvements week by week.

    My thoughts are with you and your husband, keep me posted if I can help in any way.

    Cheers,
    Steve

    ReplyDelete
  3. Donna24 August 2009 at 20:08

    Thanks, he is now 3 days post-op, and has been moved out of CCU to a step down unit. He seems to be doing great, but we had a little complication the night of surgery, I got a call that they were going to have to take him back to surgery at around midnight as his blood pressure was dropping and they were sure it was an accumulation of fluid. Sure enough it was. We were warned that may happen since he was having 6 grafts.

    I am really glad to hear that your recovery is going well, and you are correct about it being riskier for him to not have the surgery.

    I am sure that you will continue to improve each day, and I wish you well.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Steve Dobson25 August 2009 at 08:19

    Wow Donna,

    Six grafts! Think how great he is going to feel once he is healed up.

    Thanks for your kind words to me when you are so preoccupied with your own patient.

    My thoughts are with you both.

    Cheers,
    Steve

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