Preoperative Appointments Galore

Being told that you are having Open Heart Surgery in 1 week is pretty daunting but the surgeon and his PA talked a lot about success rates, me being young, reduced recovery alternatives to full sternotomy, and high tech valves that allow for less blood thinners. It's hard to get too freaked out about it when the impression is that it's a doddle.  I'm not saying that they didn't explain risks but I came away with a feeling that this surgery was going to be a success and that's just that. 

Today, we had a pro-operative appointment with the nurse from the surgeon's office. She has been at the office for 2 years, and before that 20 years at the hospital that my procedure is in next week. She worked in the very same Progressive Care Unit (PCU) that I can will be recovering in once I'm done with Intensive Care Unit (ICU). We have met Gena before and she is super-nice. She went though a curriculum of material over the course of 2 hours.  Some of the information was about terms and medications that I'm going to hear / be prescribed, some of the logistics of the day before and day of surgery, and an overview of what will be expected of me along the way. 

One thing that struck me about today's discussions is that we tended to focus on the negative. That's ok from time to time but it sort of broke my 'stay positive always'. We covered a fair amount of the "here's what happens when you don't do x" and "expect for y to happen if we see z'.  I'm not complaining really. I understand being prepared, but I feel like it's more of an uphill battle after today's session than the foregone conclusion of success after the surgeon visit. We spent a lot of time talking about who to call and when given different scenarios relating to a less than perfect recovery. 

It's probably wrong of me to think about the session in a negative light. I remember we agreed that we thought it was very informative. We both said we learned things and that it was helpful to have met and gone over the topics. 

A few things in the instructions that caught my attention:

• Daily blood pressure, weight, pulse measurements taken and logged. 
• Daily showers 
• Clean t-shirt every day 
• Clean pillowcase on the heart pillow every day
• Clean washcloth every day
• Sleep on clean sheets the night before the surgery (after a shower and a session using wipes on my whole body) 
• My entire body will be scrubbed down after I'm put under 
• I may be on 2 daily pills going into the hospital, don't be disturbed if I'm taking 10 pills (or more) daily after I leave (for a while anyway)

I don't know what stands out to me about these instructions, just that they are at the top of mind as I rethink the discussions.  Also, 'don't be a dick to the nursing staff'. Seems kinda obvious but there were some instructions that made us wonder why the nurse felt it necessary to go over (she clarified that if she is covering it in her session, that means someone did it in the past and therefore it made the list) . Things like 'take the medication that you are prescribed' and 'call the office if your incision is red, inflamed, hot to the touch and appears to be separating'... 

I've decided to not let today focus my energy on 'what ifs'. On Saturday, I take my final blood pressure medication. On Sunday, I get to do my pre-Monday uber-cleaning and on Monday, it's up early and into the hospital to fix this valve once and for all. Tuesday and beyond, I will focus on being better the day before. I think that's going to be my goal phrase when I'm asked how I'm feeling: "Better than yesterday!"