I'm not going to complain too much but I want to note that I've written several "update posts" in the past 2 weeks and Blogger has eaten them (and I was using the standard web-interface). So this is a mega-update post in somewhat sorted by time order and I will post another shortly...
Discharge From Hospital
In my last post, I noted that my roommate was told to sleep well and the following day, he was whisked off to have a device implanted that would save his life if he has another heart attack! (Turns out he was out with his family the evening prior to being hospitalized and had a massive heart attack. Luckily for him, someone provided CPR which, while saving his life, caused a few broken ribs.)
On the other hand, my one night in Progressive Care didn't provide me much sleep (thanks to lots of machines beeping, lots of interruptions for checks and meds). One thing that the nurses in ICU told me about my extended stay (see here for more info) was that in Progressive Care, they could no longer administer Fentanyl, unlike ICU. This might seem flippant (and I don't mean to be) but for the time in ICU, pain levels seemed like a breeze. I think it was pretty clear once I no longer had access to Fentanyl, the pain was actually pretty real. Incision pain, muscle pain, back pain, were a not-fun mix of bedfellows with me during that last night.
On "waking" in the morning, all of the wonderful people that came to evaluate me were all talking optimistically about today being my discharge day. The nurse on duty was pretty clear, though (and I appreciate it) that "today" probably meant late afternoon / early evening as there were still things that needed to be done (like removing ports, pacing wires, etc) which would each require some bed-rest after they were done.
Later in the morning, a crew from my work came to visit (which was very kind of them as they had to travel 80 miles each way just to get there). While it was lovely to see them, I didn't have a lot of energy and it was a relatively short visit.
In the early evening, I was cleared to go home (after talking with the various specialists). I sat in the back of our van because we didn't want to mess with turning off the airbag in the front and I can't travel with an airbag with the sternal incision.
Sleeping in a Chair
Getting home was wonderful and I was lucky enough that my parents-in-law had purchased a motorized recliner chair for me prior to being admitted. When I got home, my wife had prepared the chair with bedding and I had an electric blanket and everything I needed for sleeping at home, in a chair! The bedding idea came from a friend who said that they had a situation where a convalescing relative slept in a chair for a period of time and that subsequently the chair always smelled of "convalescing person"!
The chair was a godsend. Having the mechanical/motorized functionality was really amazing for getting in and out of the chair (which isn't as easy when you've just had your sternum cut open!!). Generally speaking, it was a very workable solution. And we now have a very comfortable chair now that I'm sleeping back in bed!
Oxycodone
When I left the hospital, I was still taking Oxycodone for pain management (supplemented with Motrin and Tylenol). I hadn't really resumed eating in the hospital, but being home brought the wonderful treat of home-cooked food. What I didn't fully understand was the impact that Oxycodone had on my gastrointestinal system... Apparently, it effectively numbed my entire GI tract, which in turn rendered any kind of digestion impossible. A couple of days of eating resulted in a lot of discomfort... (note that I am not giving you the details in case you are reading during your dinner). In the end, I took a couple of days to get off the Oxycodone so that I didn't have to deal with that awful discomfort. Very quickly my GI track was back in shape and everything was good!
Medications on Discharge
Ok, this is one for those of you who may have to face something similar in the future. I'm thankful to the nurse from my surgeon's office when I had my pre-operative appointment for telling me what to expect on the other side of the surgery. Of the items that I noted down was that I will likely leave with a laundry list of medications and not to freak out. Sure enough, on discharge from the hospital, I had a scary list of medications to take daily.
Pain Meds - Oxycodone, Tylenol & Motrin
Laxative - Because of the Oxycodone
Stool Softener - Because of the Oxycodone
Antacid - Post surgery stress/medication impact on stomach
Blood Pressure - Control of blood pressure and heart rate post surgery
Aspirin - Platelet formation management
Blood Thinner - Because of my mechanical valve
Diuretic - To help reduce the post-surgery fluid retention
Potassium - Because of the diuretic
Had I not been prepared, I would have been really shocked to be taking home these medications. The good news is that approaching 6 weeks since the operation, I'm back down to taking only the longer term medications!
Daily Routine
Getting home was great but with no work, and a bunch of post-surgery things to do, I settled into a pretty good daily routine. Each morning, I had to weigh myself, have a shower with a clean towel and clean wash-cloth, and take my morning medication. I also needed to take my temperature and blood pressure in the morning. Normally the day included getting some walks. I would take my evening medications with dinner and then, a fair portion of the days, would just nod off to sleep in the chair!
Recording the information of which pills were taken and the blood pressure, temperature and weight data was critical so that it could be relayed to the surgeon's office over the phone and during visits. I decided that I would use Google Hangouts to stream the events as they occurred.
Forward and Backward Steps
As astounding as it is that I've recovered so quickly from Open Heart Surgery in 5 weeks, it hasn't all been rosy. I mentioned the Oxycodone impacting my digestive system, and during those days things were pretty awful. It really impacted my ability to get any physical exercise (which was only 12 minutes of walking at any given time). Those days passed quickly and I was back on track.
In addition, at about 4 weeks out, caught the cough/cold that was being passed around my family. (We tried hard to avoid me getting it, but with 3 kids it's pretty much of a sure thing that I would get it eventually.) Let me assure you that having a chesty cough and not knowing if you can take cough medication (it happened over a holiday weekend) was no fun with a recently sawed open chest! Sleeping was pretty tough too. Luckily the cough dissipated after about 8 days (it lingered) and I was very happy to be done.
Early in my recovery, my sister came from London to visit and participate in my care. It was another real godsend as she motivated me to get out and get my walks in every day, and drove me around, and took great care of me. She was able to see my progress and help through the times that felt like setbacks.
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