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Terrified: Soon to have open heart surgery, so many questions
Heart & Blood Health | Last Active: Sep 8, 2023 | Replies (64)Comment receiving replies
How encouraging to read this! My surgeon is still not sure what he will do until he opens me up! I’m not concerned about the surgery, but the recovery! Surgeries go well with me, it’s the restless legs, bowels that have a mind of their own, the foggy brain, etc. that concerns me! I love to walk, but my bladder fell a few months ago and I was mentally and physically preparing for that surgery when my mitral valve started to have major issues. Now I’m preparing for open heart surgery and the major bladder surgery is pushed into the long away future. Thank you for the suggestion of pushing a cart (mine will be the little one at at Food Lion, because the ones at Wal Mart are so damaged they hurt my bladder). I love to walk in our woods, but I think I need an even, level surface at first!
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Hi @coralbells1, I had a mitral valve repair in May 2019 before I had any symptoms other than a heart murmur. The surgery was not very painful. I had some complications, like a build up of fluid in my pleural cavity and irregular heart beat. I wound up staying in the hospital for two weeks after the surgery. I agree with @mikeynorth you'll get better treatment if you are pleasant, cooperative and appreciative. I don't remember taking much medication for pain. The worst thing that happened was tubes inserted throgh my back to remove fluid (called bilateral pig tails) Ugh. They did get me up walking right away. Recovery was slow, I had some help from friends and could manage most chores (minimal) around the house. I'm glad I had the surgery when I did and I wish you the best.