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Adoption
My DH/surgery
Thank you, everyone, for all of the comments from my other post.
We're home. DH is scheduled for surgery next Thursday afternoon. It's 6-8 hours long and the recovery will be long. He'll be in the hospital for 5-7 days and then home from work for 2-3 months.
It was extremely overwhelming to hear the details of how they do the surgery. We were prepped to day by the doctor, PA, and head nurse. I really wish he didn't have to go through all of this. It's just so much to handle.
Thanks for listening...
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Re: My DH/surgery
Jenn
IVF#1 BFN IVF#2 BFP, loss at 19 weeks FET#1 BFN IVF#3 BFP, m/c FET#2 BFN
Missing our twins Zachary and Madison, lost at 19 weeks on 11/13/09, edd 4/9/10
BFP 7/17/10, m/c 7/25/10, edd 3/25/11
Ectopic, lost left tube 4/20/11, edd 12/6/11
my blog
I'm sorry that you're looking at a rough few months. We're here anytime you need support.
(((HUGS)))+02
I didn't get a chance to comment on your other post yet, but I just wanted to send you all my thoughts and prayers.
I don't know if you know, but M had surgery within 2 weeks of us bringing him home for a congenital heart defect. We knew about it before the adoption, but thought we'd have more time with him before the surgery. I know how overwhelming and completely scary it is to hear how the surgery will be done. I think that was the first moment when the severity really, truly hit me. But put your faith in the fact that this is what they do for a living, and your husband will be in very good hands. It's the one thing besides prayer that got me through the day.
The one thing that really got me was the recovery/pain management after. I wasn't prepared for how much pain M would be in the day after (this is mostly because his epidural didn't take and the doctors had trouble finding a medicine that would help him, so it's most likely not likely to happen to your husband), but I was also surprised at how quickly he recovered. It sounds as though your medical team is doing a superb job at educating you about all the aftercare/recovery details, and that's great. You'll have a chance to prepare and you'll be ready for whatever he goes through.
Please feel free to ask me anything, although obviously, M's case and your husband's will be different (child/adult aside, M's surgery was actually on his aorta rather than the heart itself).
Know that I'm thinking of you and praying for you, and if you ever want to just vent or talk, I'm here. Good luck in the coming weeks.
Captain - I do remember M's surgery. Thank you for sharing more with me about it.
They did tell us that he'll have to tell them when he needs more pain meds. That they will give him what they think he needs, but it may not be enough.
I am confident, like you said, that it's what they do for a living and the surgeon will do a good job. He's done many many heart surgeries, even one on someone I used to work with. I just found that out last night.
DH's issue is with an aortic aneurysm (think I spelled that right) and a fistula between the aorta and the ventricle.
How quickly did they have M up and moving - was it the following day? Two days later?
Thank you -- I have a feeling I will def. need to talk.
I think M was up 2 days after surgery, but only for a very short walk. It wasn't until day 4, I think, that he was really able to walk around some. He had the surgery on Monday, and he came home on Friday. That weekend, we had him off all pain medication and by sometime the following week, he was moving around mostly as normal.
M had a thoracotomy, where they go in from the side and spread the ribs to get to the operation site, rather than going in through the front of the chest. We were told over and over and over again that it is actually a more painful operation because they have to cut through the muscle and spread the ribs. I don't doubt it, after seeing how bad he was the day after surgery with little/no medication (it was the worst thing I've seen, and I seriously wanted to pummel the doctors for not trying different meds when he was obviously in agony), but I was amazed at how quickly he recovered. I don't know if his rapid recovery was because he's a kid, but in two weeks he was almost unrestricted (he just couldn't hang by his arms and things like that), and in a month all restrictions were lifted.
Again, though, M's surgery was technically not within his heart, they had to cut out a portion of his aorta that was pinched and then reattach the cut ends.