Well obviously I did survive the open heart surgery, a couple may have seen an update photo, which for my privacy I did remove.
I woke up the night of my surgery, I think my first words were “where’s smokey”
My dad who knows nothing about my little side said “Who’s Smokey”
My mom said “His teddybear in his backpack”
Smokey became popular that week with people asking his name.
Throughout that first night I kept waking up asking what time it was, as I am totally blind without my glasses. I had a nurse that was in the room with me the entire time.
Around 6 am that next morning there was talk about getting me up in a chair. Out of bed!! Less than 24 hours ago, you all took a bone saw to my rib cage, spread my chest open, and stopped my heart to bypass 2 arteries, taking a donor one from my chest and one from my arm! Now you want me out of bed! There better be some incentive for that! We made a deal, I get some pain meds, and when they kick in, they can get me out of bed. It was so painful! In one fell swoop my legs swung over the side of the bed, one nurse behind to sit me up, another make sure i did not keep going. They got me up, I sat in a chair for about an hour before i wanted back in bed.
Later I got up again and was able to stay up longer, I got some food, but it was so hard to eat. I had IV’s in each hand, one in my neck too I think, my left arm wrapped up to my elbow, chest tubes, ECG leads, pacer wires, a catheter and a wound vac
Later that week when I had a different nurse, he said he heard me when they got me up. I really liked that male nurse. When you rely on others for the most basic things you loose all modesty. I was so swollen from the fluids that going to the bathroom was hard, the turtle was way back in its shell and had to be coaxed out. I cannot use a urinal in bed, i can barely use it on the side of the bed.
Lets now discuss the indiginity of having a male nurse put a suppository up your backside while standing, or have them wipe your ass because you cannot get both arms behind your back.
Having a drain tube taken out of your chest is a weird feeling, like taking a big plastic ribbed straw out of your chest. Pacer wires that when they come out cause your heart to skip rhythm
I literally did not see the scar on my chest until about 2 hours before i went home. I was in the hospital for 8 days I think.
It was almost a month before I was able to re-diaper up. The main reason was I literally could not lay in my bed and get back up, and twisting around hurt too much in my ribs.
I had great help from my family, mostly my mom in getting recovered. Here’s to hoping the rest of 2021 goes good.