WARNING: THIS IS A VERY GRAPHIC ANSWER THAT SHOULD NOT BE READ UNLESS YOU'RE PREPARED FOR THE TRUTH. IT'S VERY SCARY. I survived a complete Type A-1 sudden aortic dissection in 2015. It was simply the worst thing that ever happened to me and I know that it would have been a lot easier to die. I'll address your questions in the order in which you asked them (although I'm not certain if you are asking for yourself or for a family member) :
1. What is it like to die with an aortic aneurysm?
An aortic aneurysm often goes unnoticed until it ruptures, which can lead to sudden, severe symptoms.
Rupture generally results in rapid blood loss internally, causing a quick drop in blood pressure and potentially quick unconsciousness. I was dead for 46 minutes under profound Deep Hyperthermic Complete Circulatory Arrest (Google DHCA). Dying was relatively easy. Peaceful. Painless. Coming back was horrible. I spent 3 weeks in a coma and was aware I was alive but did not know who or where I was. I thought I was in purgatory or h*ll. (Read the book "Johnny Got His Gun" if you're really interested in how I felt--it was terrible)
2. How painful is it, and where is the pain?
Pain can be intense and is usually felt in the chest, back, or abdomen, depending on the aneurysm's location.
The pain is often described as sharp, tearing, or stabbing and can be so severe that it is difficult to ignore or endure. Mine felt like the skin was being torn off of my back. I have never felt anything that painful before or since.
3. How is your mental capacity during a rupture?
Initially, mental capacity might remain clear, but as blood pressure drops quickly, consciousness can fade within minutes. Loss of blood flow to the brain leads to a rapid loss of awareness, typically making this a brief experience. I was in sheer terror and knew I was dying. Iran out of my hotel room barefoot and without my wallet or hotel key and laid down in the hotel driveway in San Diego. I figured I was going to die and did not want to be found dead in my hotel room days later.
4. What to do if someone is trying to resuscitate you (CPR)?
CPR can be attempted, but it is unlikely to succeed because the rupture causes significant blood loss. Emergency surgery is the only effective treatment, so getting the person to the hospital immediately is crucial, even though CPR alone may not resolve the situation. CPR on a burst aorta is sort of like pumping up a blown-out tire. It's not going to work. You have to patch the hole first.
I hope my candid responses help you, although my advice is get surgery if it's recommended. I suspect you have not had a dissection (yet) since you were able to post to this listserv. Good luck. Peace.
They think my 95 year old mother died of a ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm. I was with her the whole time. At first she had pain in her back, which I treated with massage, and morphine (she was on hospice). It spread to neck and then the pain settled in her chest and was intense. This started Sunday morning.
I gave her morphine and ativan all day and then insisted hospice come (they had initially said they would come in a few hours, and then I said come now!). The hospice nurse gave more morphine and ativan. We decided on in-patient hospice house. My mother was in severe pain but was able to joke about how much she loved the young EMT's who were on their way. As I was dressing her, she looked in my eyes and told me she was going to die.
At the hospice house I helped my mother into the bathroom- she could still walk, if hobble. Got her in bed and she said "It is beautiful here, can I stay here forever?" and I answered "Yes." They gave her a shot of morphine and she was never really conscious again. She dies early Tuesday morning.
There was intense pain. The notes mention grimacing. A few time she called out for me but could no longer see. Overall it was very peaceful, thanks to hospice care. For a sudden event like the one described above, for someone not yet ready to die, it is a whole other story.
I was at work.I had my type a and b dissection in two thousand twelve. I originally had a pain in my back in that morning and it moved up my back as the morning went on. I dissected about 10 o'clock and lost consciousness very quickly. They did c pr on me but couldn't get AI. Vy line when the ambulance came, so they just got me to the hospital as fast as they could. And then they put me on ice all around my head and chest. And flew me to a bigger hospital where I spent 12 hours in surgery and 30 days in a coma...
I had nightmares in my coma.And I could hear things sometimes but not always and it was kinda scary. After I got to the hospital I didn't feel any more pain. I was only conscious at one point during my first hospital while they were doing an echo or a cat scan. I don't remember thirty one days of my stay in the bigger hospital. Just.
The nightmares and that I hallucinated when I first Woke up. It was horrible..
I still have Many aneurysms And dilations in my body.So my chance of dissecting another one is great.
God bless.
I think if I would have died when I dissected.I wouldn't have even known it.
Thanks all for a very good insight on my condition.
I am 79 and I have had a very good life. With 3 successful careers, a 47 year marriage and 2 wonderful children. To highlight a few.
My aneurysm was found through a lung x-ray I had a month ago. Sugary was recommended. I had made up my mind, that if I had lung cancer (depending on the stage it was in) that I would consider euthanasia. This is possible because I live in The Netherlands. One of the reasons I moved here. My wife left us this way when she had terminal bowel cancer. She had a lot of pain leading up to it though.
I am considering doing nothing and go on enjoying life as I have been doing all along.
This seems like a quick and not too painful way of leaving. I really don't want long hospital stays, or chemotherapy, or relying on morphine to keep pain away.
Thanks all for a very good insight on my condition.
I am 79 and I have had a very good life. With 3 successful careers, a 47 year marriage and 2 wonderful children. To highlight a few.
My aneurysm was found through a lung x-ray I had a month ago. Sugary was recommended. I had made up my mind, that if I had lung cancer (depending on the stage it was in) that I would consider euthanasia. This is possible because I live in The Netherlands. One of the reasons I moved here. My wife left us this way when she had terminal bowel cancer. She had a lot of pain leading up to it though.
I am considering doing nothing and go on enjoying life as I have been doing all along.
This seems like a quick and not too painful way of leaving. I really don't want long hospital stays, or chemotherapy, or relying on morphine to keep pain away.
@takeck my 20something daughter had a fistula in their brain after a brain injury and surgery. The blood vessels didn't heal in a proper formation. Neurointerventional surgery was a miracle. They are amazing. I believe that surgery on an aneurysm is very similar. My kid was in the ICI one night then back to normal life. No pain. I am also in my 70's and believe we still have some good time left! But everyone feels differently and I respect your choices, whatever they are.
I was at work.I had my type a and b dissection in two thousand twelve. I originally had a pain in my back in that morning and it moved up my back as the morning went on. I dissected about 10 o'clock and lost consciousness very quickly. They did c pr on me but couldn't get AI. Vy line when the ambulance came, so they just got me to the hospital as fast as they could. And then they put me on ice all around my head and chest. And flew me to a bigger hospital where I spent 12 hours in surgery and 30 days in a coma...
I had nightmares in my coma.And I could hear things sometimes but not always and it was kinda scary. After I got to the hospital I didn't feel any more pain. I was only conscious at one point during my first hospital while they were doing an echo or a cat scan. I don't remember thirty one days of my stay in the bigger hospital. Just.
The nightmares and that I hallucinated when I first Woke up. It was horrible..
I still have Many aneurysms And dilations in my body.So my chance of dissecting another one is great.
God bless.
I think if I would have died when I dissected.I wouldn't have even known it.
I'm so sorry you experienced this. It is SO HELPFUL for you to share this experience though, since a lot of folks out here on the listserv underestimate just how horrible it is. I hallucinated too after they spiraled me up from the coma. I remember everything in the coma but it was complete nightmare. I would doze off and they wake up to a solid blazing white light followed by spinning psychedelic patterns and all I could hear was screaming, screeching tires, terrible traumatizing sounds. I wanted to die so badly but I did not know where I was and assume I was in H*ll or worse. So, it is really helpful to hear about your experience. Back in 2012-2015 time frame when we both had our dissections, there was a massive amount of opioids used for sedation. When I left UCSD I left the hospital NOT KNOWING I was addicted to opiods and had never ever taken one before. I don't drink or take any drugs of any kind, so I spent more than two months going through withdrawals and thinking it was the effects of two open heart surgeries. I think there should be a federal law that requires hospitals who give people opiods of any kind to give a complete written disclosure of what opioids were administered and the precise amounts. I stopped taking everything cold turkey when I left the hospital. It wasn't until a year later when I read every page of my 1,300 medical records that I realized I had been given a massive amount of different opioids when I was in surgery and in the 3-week coma. It would have been invaluable to my wife and kids to know why Dad was in bed all day, puking, not eating, and hallucinating because he had been unwittingly addicted to opiods. I went through almost 2.5 months of withdrawal without even know I had been given opioids. When I was discharged they gave me 240 Oxycodone which I promptly refused since I do not take drugs and assumed I could take Tylenol if the pain was too intense. Boy was I wrong. I hallucinated, had the shakes, had the sh*ts, puked constantly, couldn;t eat since everything tasted like metal, lost 60 lbs, was depressed, was in a complete opioid fog. So, I learned just how bad addicts have it when they detox cold turkey. Now, I understand that they saved my life, but they failed to tell me that I was going home to an opiod addiction with my little kids 3, 6, and 9 years old at home. Think Trainspotting (the movie). Here a list of exactly what they gave me when I was unconscious and never once disclosed to me after I was discharged and sent home in a wheelchair. I read all of my records a year after the surgery and found out:
I'm so sorry you experienced this. It is SO HELPFUL for you to share this experience though, since a lot of folks out here on the listserv underestimate just how horrible it is. I hallucinated too after they spiraled me up from the coma. I remember everything in the coma but it was complete nightmare. I would doze off and they wake up to a solid blazing white light followed by spinning psychedelic patterns and all I could hear was screaming, screeching tires, terrible traumatizing sounds. I wanted to die so badly but I did not know where I was and assume I was in H*ll or worse. So, it is really helpful to hear about your experience. Back in 2012-2015 time frame when we both had our dissections, there was a massive amount of opioids used for sedation. When I left UCSD I left the hospital NOT KNOWING I was addicted to opiods and had never ever taken one before. I don't drink or take any drugs of any kind, so I spent more than two months going through withdrawals and thinking it was the effects of two open heart surgeries. I think there should be a federal law that requires hospitals who give people opiods of any kind to give a complete written disclosure of what opioids were administered and the precise amounts. I stopped taking everything cold turkey when I left the hospital. It wasn't until a year later when I read every page of my 1,300 medical records that I realized I had been given a massive amount of different opioids when I was in surgery and in the 3-week coma. It would have been invaluable to my wife and kids to know why Dad was in bed all day, puking, not eating, and hallucinating because he had been unwittingly addicted to opiods. I went through almost 2.5 months of withdrawal without even know I had been given opioids. When I was discharged they gave me 240 Oxycodone which I promptly refused since I do not take drugs and assumed I could take Tylenol if the pain was too intense. Boy was I wrong. I hallucinated, had the shakes, had the sh*ts, puked constantly, couldn;t eat since everything tasted like metal, lost 60 lbs, was depressed, was in a complete opioid fog. So, I learned just how bad addicts have it when they detox cold turkey. Now, I understand that they saved my life, but they failed to tell me that I was going home to an opiod addiction with my little kids 3, 6, and 9 years old at home. Think Trainspotting (the movie). Here a list of exactly what they gave me when I was unconscious and never once disclosed to me after I was discharged and sent home in a wheelchair. I read all of my records a year after the surgery and found out:
I'm so sorry you experienced this. It is SO HELPFUL for you to share this experience though, since a lot of folks out here on the listserv underestimate just how horrible it is. I hallucinated too after they spiraled me up from the coma. I remember everything in the coma but it was complete nightmare. I would doze off and they wake up to a solid blazing white light followed by spinning psychedelic patterns and all I could hear was screaming, screeching tires, terrible traumatizing sounds. I wanted to die so badly but I did not know where I was and assume I was in H*ll or worse. So, it is really helpful to hear about your experience. Back in 2012-2015 time frame when we both had our dissections, there was a massive amount of opioids used for sedation. When I left UCSD I left the hospital NOT KNOWING I was addicted to opiods and had never ever taken one before. I don't drink or take any drugs of any kind, so I spent more than two months going through withdrawals and thinking it was the effects of two open heart surgeries. I think there should be a federal law that requires hospitals who give people opiods of any kind to give a complete written disclosure of what opioids were administered and the precise amounts. I stopped taking everything cold turkey when I left the hospital. It wasn't until a year later when I read every page of my 1,300 medical records that I realized I had been given a massive amount of different opioids when I was in surgery and in the 3-week coma. It would have been invaluable to my wife and kids to know why Dad was in bed all day, puking, not eating, and hallucinating because he had been unwittingly addicted to opiods. I went through almost 2.5 months of withdrawal without even know I had been given opioids. When I was discharged they gave me 240 Oxycodone which I promptly refused since I do not take drugs and assumed I could take Tylenol if the pain was too intense. Boy was I wrong. I hallucinated, had the shakes, had the sh*ts, puked constantly, couldn;t eat since everything tasted like metal, lost 60 lbs, was depressed, was in a complete opioid fog. So, I learned just how bad addicts have it when they detox cold turkey. Now, I understand that they saved my life, but they failed to tell me that I was going home to an opiod addiction with my little kids 3, 6, and 9 years old at home. Think Trainspotting (the movie). Here a list of exactly what they gave me when I was unconscious and never once disclosed to me after I was discharged and sent home in a wheelchair. I read all of my records a year after the surgery and found out:
I am so sorry about the narcotics! They just dump them in when you're inpatient. 240 pills is unbelievable.
I was lucky when I went through narcotics withdrawal I had Ativan to help w symptoms.
It's horrible withdrawing.
I'm glad you made it through.
Thanks all for a very good insight on my condition.
I am 79 and I have had a very good life. With 3 successful careers, a 47 year marriage and 2 wonderful children. To highlight a few.
My aneurysm was found through a lung x-ray I had a month ago. Sugary was recommended. I had made up my mind, that if I had lung cancer (depending on the stage it was in) that I would consider euthanasia. This is possible because I live in The Netherlands. One of the reasons I moved here. My wife left us this way when she had terminal bowel cancer. She had a lot of pain leading up to it though.
I am considering doing nothing and go on enjoying life as I have been doing all along.
This seems like a quick and not too painful way of leaving. I really don't want long hospital stays, or chemotherapy, or relying on morphine to keep pain away.
Isn't it amazing how we're having to wrestle with these issues that for so long have seemed very abstract? I'm 79 with an aortic aneurysm at 4.2 and I think everyday about what I would do under various circumstances. I know I'm old (though I still can hardly believe it) but I still have a large appetite for life. My husband is in the early stages of dementia, so the next ? years will demand a lot from me. I'm more-or-less prepared for that and want to do my best for him, knowing things will only get more difficult. Finding out about this aneurysm was such a shock. Now I have to consider that I might die first. I'm 2/12 yrs. older than my husband. I want to outlive him for obvious reasons, and I want another chapter in my life, another shot at happiness, not that I'm unhappy now, but we all have a lot of s--t in our lives. I have a good friend who lives in The Netherlands. About a year ago her husband went out for a walk, had a bad fall, and broke his neck. He was told he'd never walk again. He decided to exit this life on his own terms. I understand that for some people there are worse things than death. I want to be ready when the time comes, but I'm not finished yet. If I can make it to 85, I wonder how I'll feel then? Any decisions we make should bring us peace. I hope peace is what you find--and some happiness too.
I'm so sorry you experienced this. It is SO HELPFUL for you to share this experience though, since a lot of folks out here on the listserv underestimate just how horrible it is. I hallucinated too after they spiraled me up from the coma. I remember everything in the coma but it was complete nightmare. I would doze off and they wake up to a solid blazing white light followed by spinning psychedelic patterns and all I could hear was screaming, screeching tires, terrible traumatizing sounds. I wanted to die so badly but I did not know where I was and assume I was in H*ll or worse. So, it is really helpful to hear about your experience. Back in 2012-2015 time frame when we both had our dissections, there was a massive amount of opioids used for sedation. When I left UCSD I left the hospital NOT KNOWING I was addicted to opiods and had never ever taken one before. I don't drink or take any drugs of any kind, so I spent more than two months going through withdrawals and thinking it was the effects of two open heart surgeries. I think there should be a federal law that requires hospitals who give people opiods of any kind to give a complete written disclosure of what opioids were administered and the precise amounts. I stopped taking everything cold turkey when I left the hospital. It wasn't until a year later when I read every page of my 1,300 medical records that I realized I had been given a massive amount of different opioids when I was in surgery and in the 3-week coma. It would have been invaluable to my wife and kids to know why Dad was in bed all day, puking, not eating, and hallucinating because he had been unwittingly addicted to opiods. I went through almost 2.5 months of withdrawal without even know I had been given opioids. When I was discharged they gave me 240 Oxycodone which I promptly refused since I do not take drugs and assumed I could take Tylenol if the pain was too intense. Boy was I wrong. I hallucinated, had the shakes, had the sh*ts, puked constantly, couldn;t eat since everything tasted like metal, lost 60 lbs, was depressed, was in a complete opioid fog. So, I learned just how bad addicts have it when they detox cold turkey. Now, I understand that they saved my life, but they failed to tell me that I was going home to an opiod addiction with my little kids 3, 6, and 9 years old at home. Think Trainspotting (the movie). Here a list of exactly what they gave me when I was unconscious and never once disclosed to me after I was discharged and sent home in a wheelchair. I read all of my records a year after the surgery and found out:
I'm learning so much from you and your experience. I believe all of us in this group are and I thank your for your openness about a very difficult subject. All those drugs! And not to know about what you were given! All I can think is, they didn't expect you to make it and wanted to keep you comfortable. But you survived! What a terrible ordeal for you and for your family. I've heard about the likelihood of hallucinations after open-heart surgery and thought, like you, they were due to the surgery itself. Now it seems it's the drugs that cause so much trouble, but how can pain be managed without them? It's a Catch 22.
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WARNING: THIS IS A VERY GRAPHIC ANSWER THAT SHOULD NOT BE READ UNLESS YOU'RE PREPARED FOR THE TRUTH. IT'S VERY SCARY. I survived a complete Type A-1 sudden aortic dissection in 2015. It was simply the worst thing that ever happened to me and I know that it would have been a lot easier to die. I'll address your questions in the order in which you asked them (although I'm not certain if you are asking for yourself or for a family member) :
1. What is it like to die with an aortic aneurysm?
An aortic aneurysm often goes unnoticed until it ruptures, which can lead to sudden, severe symptoms.
Rupture generally results in rapid blood loss internally, causing a quick drop in blood pressure and potentially quick unconsciousness. I was dead for 46 minutes under profound Deep Hyperthermic Complete Circulatory Arrest (Google DHCA). Dying was relatively easy. Peaceful. Painless. Coming back was horrible. I spent 3 weeks in a coma and was aware I was alive but did not know who or where I was. I thought I was in purgatory or h*ll. (Read the book "Johnny Got His Gun" if you're really interested in how I felt--it was terrible)
2. How painful is it, and where is the pain?
Pain can be intense and is usually felt in the chest, back, or abdomen, depending on the aneurysm's location.
The pain is often described as sharp, tearing, or stabbing and can be so severe that it is difficult to ignore or endure. Mine felt like the skin was being torn off of my back. I have never felt anything that painful before or since.
3. How is your mental capacity during a rupture?
Initially, mental capacity might remain clear, but as blood pressure drops quickly, consciousness can fade within minutes. Loss of blood flow to the brain leads to a rapid loss of awareness, typically making this a brief experience. I was in sheer terror and knew I was dying. Iran out of my hotel room barefoot and without my wallet or hotel key and laid down in the hotel driveway in San Diego. I figured I was going to die and did not want to be found dead in my hotel room days later.
4. What to do if someone is trying to resuscitate you (CPR)?
CPR can be attempted, but it is unlikely to succeed because the rupture causes significant blood loss. Emergency surgery is the only effective treatment, so getting the person to the hospital immediately is crucial, even though CPR alone may not resolve the situation. CPR on a burst aorta is sort of like pumping up a blown-out tire. It's not going to work. You have to patch the hole first.
I hope my candid responses help you, although my advice is get surgery if it's recommended. I suspect you have not had a dissection (yet) since you were able to post to this listserv. Good luck. Peace.
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12 ReactionsThey think my 95 year old mother died of a ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm. I was with her the whole time. At first she had pain in her back, which I treated with massage, and morphine (she was on hospice). It spread to neck and then the pain settled in her chest and was intense. This started Sunday morning.
I gave her morphine and ativan all day and then insisted hospice come (they had initially said they would come in a few hours, and then I said come now!). The hospice nurse gave more morphine and ativan. We decided on in-patient hospice house. My mother was in severe pain but was able to joke about how much she loved the young EMT's who were on their way. As I was dressing her, she looked in my eyes and told me she was going to die.
At the hospice house I helped my mother into the bathroom- she could still walk, if hobble. Got her in bed and she said "It is beautiful here, can I stay here forever?" and I answered "Yes." They gave her a shot of morphine and she was never really conscious again. She dies early Tuesday morning.
There was intense pain. The notes mention grimacing. A few time she called out for me but could no longer see. Overall it was very peaceful, thanks to hospice care. For a sudden event like the one described above, for someone not yet ready to die, it is a whole other story.
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6 ReactionsI was at work.I had my type a and b dissection in two thousand twelve. I originally had a pain in my back in that morning and it moved up my back as the morning went on. I dissected about 10 o'clock and lost consciousness very quickly. They did c pr on me but couldn't get AI. Vy line when the ambulance came, so they just got me to the hospital as fast as they could. And then they put me on ice all around my head and chest. And flew me to a bigger hospital where I spent 12 hours in surgery and 30 days in a coma...
I had nightmares in my coma.And I could hear things sometimes but not always and it was kinda scary. After I got to the hospital I didn't feel any more pain. I was only conscious at one point during my first hospital while they were doing an echo or a cat scan. I don't remember thirty one days of my stay in the bigger hospital. Just.
The nightmares and that I hallucinated when I first Woke up. It was horrible..
I still have Many aneurysms And dilations in my body.So my chance of dissecting another one is great.
God bless.
I think if I would have died when I dissected.I wouldn't have even known it.
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8 ReactionsThanks all for a very good insight on my condition.
I am 79 and I have had a very good life. With 3 successful careers, a 47 year marriage and 2 wonderful children. To highlight a few.
My aneurysm was found through a lung x-ray I had a month ago. Sugary was recommended. I had made up my mind, that if I had lung cancer (depending on the stage it was in) that I would consider euthanasia. This is possible because I live in The Netherlands. One of the reasons I moved here. My wife left us this way when she had terminal bowel cancer. She had a lot of pain leading up to it though.
I am considering doing nothing and go on enjoying life as I have been doing all along.
This seems like a quick and not too painful way of leaving. I really don't want long hospital stays, or chemotherapy, or relying on morphine to keep pain away.
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Hug
5 Reactions@takeck my 20something daughter had a fistula in their brain after a brain injury and surgery. The blood vessels didn't heal in a proper formation. Neurointerventional surgery was a miracle. They are amazing. I believe that surgery on an aneurysm is very similar. My kid was in the ICI one night then back to normal life. No pain. I am also in my 70's and believe we still have some good time left! But everyone feels differently and I respect your choices, whatever they are.
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2 ReactionsI'm so sorry you experienced this. It is SO HELPFUL for you to share this experience though, since a lot of folks out here on the listserv underestimate just how horrible it is. I hallucinated too after they spiraled me up from the coma. I remember everything in the coma but it was complete nightmare. I would doze off and they wake up to a solid blazing white light followed by spinning psychedelic patterns and all I could hear was screaming, screeching tires, terrible traumatizing sounds. I wanted to die so badly but I did not know where I was and assume I was in H*ll or worse. So, it is really helpful to hear about your experience. Back in 2012-2015 time frame when we both had our dissections, there was a massive amount of opioids used for sedation. When I left UCSD I left the hospital NOT KNOWING I was addicted to opiods and had never ever taken one before. I don't drink or take any drugs of any kind, so I spent more than two months going through withdrawals and thinking it was the effects of two open heart surgeries. I think there should be a federal law that requires hospitals who give people opiods of any kind to give a complete written disclosure of what opioids were administered and the precise amounts. I stopped taking everything cold turkey when I left the hospital. It wasn't until a year later when I read every page of my 1,300 medical records that I realized I had been given a massive amount of different opioids when I was in surgery and in the 3-week coma. It would have been invaluable to my wife and kids to know why Dad was in bed all day, puking, not eating, and hallucinating because he had been unwittingly addicted to opiods. I went through almost 2.5 months of withdrawal without even know I had been given opioids. When I was discharged they gave me 240 Oxycodone which I promptly refused since I do not take drugs and assumed I could take Tylenol if the pain was too intense. Boy was I wrong. I hallucinated, had the shakes, had the sh*ts, puked constantly, couldn;t eat since everything tasted like metal, lost 60 lbs, was depressed, was in a complete opioid fog. So, I learned just how bad addicts have it when they detox cold turkey. Now, I understand that they saved my life, but they failed to tell me that I was going home to an opiod addiction with my little kids 3, 6, and 9 years old at home. Think Trainspotting (the movie). Here a list of exactly what they gave me when I was unconscious and never once disclosed to me after I was discharged and sent home in a wheelchair. I read all of my records a year after the surgery and found out:
Dilaudid
Haldol
Fentanyl
Remifentanil
Midazolam
Morphine
Naloxone (14 doses)
Narcotic Cocktail Drip (Google this)
Oxycodone
Roxicodone
Seroquel
Trazodone
Don't ignore your doctors if they tell you you need surgery! Peace. Here's the rest of the drugs they gave me (just in case you have read this far)
Acetaminophen
Albumin
Albumin Bolus
Albumin Human
Aminocaproic Acid
Amlodipine
Antacid
Anticholinergic
Aspirin
Atorvastatin
Aztreonam
Calcium Gluconate
Cardene
Carvedilol
Cryoplegia
Dexmedetomidine
Dextrose
Dextrose-Sodium Chloride
Docusate Sodium
Dopamine
Electrolytes
Epinephrine
Esmolol
Famotidine
Furosemide
Glucagon
Glucagon Injectable
Glucose
Glucose Chewable
Glucose Oral Gel
H2 Blocker
Heparin
Hydralazine
Insulin
Insulin Glargine
Insulin Lispro
Labetalol
Lactated Ringers
Lidocaine
Lidocaine Viscous
Magnesium Sulfate
Metoprolol Tartrate
Neosynephrine
Micardis
Nitroglycerin
Nitroglycerin Paste
Nitroprusside
Norepinephrine
Ondansetron
Oxygen
Phenylephrine
Phosphorus
Potassium Chloride
Propofol
Packed Red Blood Cells
Reglan
Rocuronium
Saline
Senna
Simvastatin
Sodium Chloride
Vancomycin
Vasopressin
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7 Reactions@moonboy do you have diabetes? Which type if so...
I am so sorry about the narcotics! They just dump them in when you're inpatient. 240 pills is unbelievable.
I was lucky when I went through narcotics withdrawal I had Ativan to help w symptoms.
It's horrible withdrawing.
I'm glad you made it through.
God bless
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2 ReactionsIsn't it amazing how we're having to wrestle with these issues that for so long have seemed very abstract? I'm 79 with an aortic aneurysm at 4.2 and I think everyday about what I would do under various circumstances. I know I'm old (though I still can hardly believe it) but I still have a large appetite for life. My husband is in the early stages of dementia, so the next ? years will demand a lot from me. I'm more-or-less prepared for that and want to do my best for him, knowing things will only get more difficult. Finding out about this aneurysm was such a shock. Now I have to consider that I might die first. I'm 2/12 yrs. older than my husband. I want to outlive him for obvious reasons, and I want another chapter in my life, another shot at happiness, not that I'm unhappy now, but we all have a lot of s--t in our lives. I have a good friend who lives in The Netherlands. About a year ago her husband went out for a walk, had a bad fall, and broke his neck. He was told he'd never walk again. He decided to exit this life on his own terms. I understand that for some people there are worse things than death. I want to be ready when the time comes, but I'm not finished yet. If I can make it to 85, I wonder how I'll feel then? Any decisions we make should bring us peace. I hope peace is what you find--and some happiness too.
I'm learning so much from you and your experience. I believe all of us in this group are and I thank your for your openness about a very difficult subject. All those drugs! And not to know about what you were given! All I can think is, they didn't expect you to make it and wanted to keep you comfortable. But you survived! What a terrible ordeal for you and for your family. I've heard about the likelihood of hallucinations after open-heart surgery and thought, like you, they were due to the surgery itself. Now it seems it's the drugs that cause so much trouble, but how can pain be managed without them? It's a Catch 22.
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