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Education Have you had major surgery?

Discussion in 'General' started by teacherboy, 12 Sep 2012.

  1. teacherboy

    teacherboy Part Carbon/Nylon/Bovine

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    Here follows my own personal experiences of major open heart surgery, feel free to add your own surgical experiences - didn't search for a pre-existing thread but if there is one Mods should feel free to merge them if there is significant overlap.

    Weds 29th August 2012.

    The day before surgery.

    Hospital kindly provides basic hotel accommodation in a Premier Inn (Haymarket, Bristol - adjacent to Bristol Magistrates Court and Bus station) but 5 mins slow walk from hotel to hospital.

    Arrive at hotel at 2.15 pm, check in smoothly and confirm that the room I've booked for the following night will be the same room to avoid any extra unnecessary stress on my wife who is almost in bits at this stage. I'm strangely calm, like being in a waking dream and life just flows past me uninterrupted and uninteresting.

    Off to hospital for 4pm pre-op consultation with Anaesthetist, Surgeon and signing of consent forms.

    Wait 2 hours, anaesthetist turns up - he's calm and instantly confidence inspiring, just has an air of "knowing" and is supremely calm and collected. During the time waiting I get signed up for 2 studies for haemoglobin levels and how they relate to blood transfusions (TITRE II) and how platelets/fibrin levels relate to clotting whilst on anticoagulants (COPTIC).

    Wait 2 more hours........... eventually A. N. Other surgeon turns up and produces consent forms, runs through risks - quickly confirm that he is not performing surgery and I will have Professor Ascione (Chair of Cardiothoracic Surgery at Bristol Heart Institute)...... I am *phew*.

    Leave hospital at 7pm to get some food and catch a movie............ walk 5 mins down road and phone rings...........can we come back and see Professor Ascione...........

    Trudge back to hospital - wife is *Less* than impressed by this stage, meet the prof, final confirmation that I'm definitely a having mechanical aortic valve, +/- mitral valve repair and +/- aortic graft (+/- as they truly don't know till they have eyes on the offending parts.

    Leave hospital at 8pm+, get some food and back to hotel to prep for surgery...........

    Body hair on torso, groin, back etc has to be gone (back not strictly required but having experienced plastic hospital mattresses before it's a comfort thing for the next few days......). Hours later - mission accomplished :eyebrow::eyebrow:

    No sleep that night for me but wife goes out like a light :thumb:

    Thursday 30th August 2012.

    Report to hospital at 7am, hospital gown and as my reputation has proceeded me from previous diagnostic tests they issue me with 3 tamazepam to make me woozy/sleep prior to anaesthetic............. they fail dismally and I have crystal clear recollections of every moment up until 8.25am.

    Last words from my mouth were "don't forget the pre-op blood sample for the COPTIC study" and cool assistant anaesthetist called Dennis told me it had already been done.

    Last thought in my head ..... instead of counting backwards from 10 I'd say my daughters name - Daisy Ophelia Brown - hope I did that but never saw anaesthetist again so never got the chance to ask if I did............

    Propafol robs memories for 30mins before and several hours after procedure..... so here's the surgical report I took pics of while I was in hospital and was given my notes while on the way to an Echo-cardiogram to confirm healing is well under way a few days post surgery....

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    Wake up from anaesthetic at 6pm and instantly try to pull ventilator tube from throat, have to be restrained while it is removed by someone slightly more medically qualified than me.....

    Wife is there, words of love and relief exchanged and then darkness until 6am on 31st August.

    Friday 31st August 2012.

    Wake up at 6am and *bing* feel fantastic - barely like anything has been done to me..... this barely changes from then until today.

    Nurse gives me materials to wash and freshen up, brush teeth etc.

    Breakfast of porridge and fruit juice.

    11am - out of intensive care!!! Barely 17 hours after surgery!

    Onto High dependency unit - discover morphine in fact appears not to work on me as every time I push the button I don't get a warm rush of opiates and I feel exactly the same - still use the button anyway on off chance it is in fact working but I have zero pain - none/zip/zilch/Nada! :D:D ( See above comment about perceived physical changes post-op)

    Next few days are blur of blood tests/x-rays at bedside (they released me from intensive care with 2 partially collapsed lungs!!! Confirmed by x-ray and physical examination by doctors/physiotherapists)

    Won't go into the saga of the Warfarin/Heparin but I passed all discharge tests 3 days post-op on Monday 3rd September and have waited until today to be released when INR finally climbed above 2.0 to 2.1.

    Instead I'll leave you with awesome sternotomy scar pic from 4 days post-op :thumb:

    [​IMG]

    Apologies for length of post and thanks for reading, I had a lot to get of my ........erm .........Chest:lol:
     
    Last edited: 12 Sep 2012
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  2. Cei

    Cei pew pew pew

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    Have fun with your LMWH injections for the next month or so!

    Glad you pulled through cleanly, surgical wound also looks nice and neat.
     
  3. KidMod-Southpaw

    KidMod-Southpaw Super Spamming Saiyan

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    Well done to you man! That scar will be almost invisible in no time!

    My skin cancer/ melanoma surgery was closer to the end of plastic surgery.
    I had it done in the week old Whiston, St Helens hospital. It was a great place! The surgeons were really confidence inspiring, and while my mum was nervous as hell the whole time, I was just relaxed and really not bothered. :)

    And now I have silicon, I'm part boob implant! W00P!
     
  4. Matticus

    Matticus ...

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    That scar is outrageously clean. Looks like it will heal up really well.

    Aside from getting out of Hospital so soon after such major surgery, I am seriously impressed that you are able to get on bit tech, makes posts like that with pictures. Mad props as the cool kids would say :)

    What sort of mobility do you have now? If you don't mind me asking that is.
     
  5. Shirty

    Shirty W*nker! Super Moderator

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    Just.... awesome!

    I'm lucky enough never to have needed the skills of a surgeon, but their abilities never cease to amaze me.
     
  6. teacherboy

    teacherboy Part Carbon/Nylon/Bovine

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    If by that you mean clexane (breaks down clots, reduces risk of DVT) I've not had any for a week since I started refusing on the grounds I was so mobile and *not* going to get either :thumb::thumb:

    Only warfarin as anticoagulant, with bisoprolol as beta-blocker to control heart rate (which has been solidly 99bpm since op) and ramipril to reduce blood pressure (now averaging 105/62 :eeek:)

    Seems I have massive tolerance to modern pharmaceuticals excepting Ramipril - which my body happily accepts and allows to work as it should :sigh::sigh:

    *edit* Googled for LMWH - not widely used in UK AFAIK, although I did ask for it after a limited amount of wikipedia research into alternative anticoagulants to warfarin/regular heparin.
     
  7. Fantus

    Fantus Nothing to see here...

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    Glad to hear it went well :D :thumb:

    I've been under the knife a few times for surgery on my ears and it's never really bothered me. I was fairly young the first time so I guess it's something I'm used to and don't really worry about it any more.
    I'm sure my wife would panic if I had to go under again but ti doesn't look like I'll need to.
     
  8. Tribble

    Tribble Steals Avatars

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    That scar is a work of art, agreed :thumb:

    And well we hope you take it easy.

    hey and that's my normal BP :D
     
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  9. teacherboy

    teacherboy Part Carbon/Nylon/Bovine

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    Unlimited effectively - limits only in my brain atm but physically am as before pretty much.

    In fact I got told off for walking to the hospital entrance (maybe 500 metres total there and back) 2 days after surgery because I wanted some fresh air :D:D

    Scar has become a little messier as I've moved around more and scabs pulled off, showering has washed them off etc. and burns a little as nerves endings are regenerating after being cut
     
    Last edited: 12 Sep 2012
  10. Matticus

    Matticus ...

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    Is that normal for someone after that sort of surgery, or are you some sort of super human?
     
  11. Blazza181

    Blazza181 SVM PLACENTA CASEI

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    Just think, you could have part of Michael Jackson inside you. :worried:

    Nah, the closest thing to surgery I got was an offer to try to rebreak my nose to try to make it straighter. Sort of declined that.
     
  12. Sloth

    Sloth #yolo #swag

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    Never had major surgery, hope to never have major surgery. Glad to see it all went well! Part man, part machine, part beast!
     
  13. knuck

    knuck Hate your face

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    I had my first rib (right side) removed two years ago. It's not major surgery but they still had to cut me open to go play in there :D
     
  14. .//TuNdRa

    .//TuNdRa Resident Bulldozer Guru

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    That just made me Squeamish to read. However; It's good to hear it all went well!

    As for surgery; Closest I've had was general anaesthetic to stop me from biting the dentist while I had fillings done. I was a right riot of a child.

    Awesomely clean scar or not; that still makes my chest hurt to look at, too.
     
  15. King Roo

    King Roo What's a Dremel?

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    Not major but minor but I know how much pain it is
     
  16. Scirocco

    Scirocco Boobs, I have them, you lose.

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    I guess a C-section for my daughter is major surgery, plus a partial mastectomy from an infection contracted while breast feeding. Luckily I have more than enough to spare in that department, so no one can tell, except for the crescent-shaped scar around my nipple.
     
  17. sui_winbolo

    sui_winbolo Giraffe_City

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    Amazing, simply amazing. I'm glad it went pretty smoothly for you. Hopefully I won't have to have any major surgeries, but if I do, I hope they go as well as that.

    The only surgery I had was to get my wisdom teeth removed.

    Hope you everything goes well for you teacherboy. Thank you for sharing your story!
     
  18. Andy Mc

    Andy Mc Modder

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    The wife had a c-section followed 5 days later by heart surgery back in November at JR in oxford. Glad she took the option to go there instead of Bristol to be honest. As it was a little closer and the "service" was outstanding, I think we only had the single day of waiting room hell and that was due to the maternity side of things not the cardio.

    The staff at JR were all over her case as it was rare and a good bit of PR for the hospital, which they took full advantage of. Cant complain as we had our own private room. I say we as I was able to stay on those rare days i wasn't on shift at work (my employer at the time were useless).

    The surgeons did a great job, her scar is dead straight, quite pale now and she didn't need any blood transfused. We also have a video of the c-section and heart op (which is strangely not that odd or gross).
     
  19. KidMod-Southpaw

    KidMod-Southpaw Super Spamming Saiyan

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    Yeah, don't worry about the scar not being as clean, it'll heal up fine.

    And as for browsing BT just after, he is and I was people! :D It's a little painful but ok to sit! :thumb:
     
  20. longweight

    longweight Possibly Longbeard.

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    I've had four operations on my balls!

    Shall I post pictures of my scars?
     

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