I had my OHS on January 31 and all went well. The surgeon sees to think that even though I did have 3 leaflets on my aortic valve, that 2 of them may have been fused in utero or shortly thereafter and I lived with it. Because I had it all my life I never knew I had it until it got bad. I developed stenosis at a younger age than most people because of that so I guess that was fortunate.
Had a couple of hiccups though. Number 1, my right lung collapsed sortly after surgery. They inserted a chest tube but for some reason it was not doing the job so the day after surgery I was back in integrated radiology having a new tube inserted. That my friends was an awful experience because the doctor performing the procedure was not listening to either his nurses, my nurses of me. It was traumatizing. Second tube worked though and I was removed to the stepdown until on Thursday and came home on Saturday.
Second, I learned a valuable lesson about pain medication. I do not like it. I tend to try and tough it out. open heart surgery is not the time to do that though. Take the meds folks. You need them. I did eventually leave them behind in lieu of tylenol after I got home but I still had considerable pain. After multiple trips to my very patient surgeon and eventually my radiation oncologist it was decided that the reason that A) my ling collapsed and B) I will still dealing with considerable pain 8 weeks after surgery (higher than they thought I should have and I have a pretty high pain tolerance level) was a direct result of the radiation I received for my breast cancer. Talk about adding insult to injury.
I was finally able to go back to my own bed about 10 weeks after surgery and sleep fairly comfortably. I am 6 weeks or so into cardiac rehab and that is going well. I have about 2 weeks left. (6 sessions) I am very grateful to be on the other side, This surgery was by far the most difficult thing I have ever done both mentally and physically. I am beyond thankful for my wonderful surgeon and his staff who have cared for me like family. Onward and upward right?
Immediate plans include my first quilting retreat since last November and the both the dreaded first mammogram since diagnosis and the first echocardiogram since surgery. Here is to a summer not spent running back and forth to the hospital!
