5 Month old - OHS in 2 weeks

LexiSophie55 · February 2013

My son will be 5 months and having open heart surgery in 2 weeks. He has a bulge off of the right atrium appendage.

I know he will be in good hands and I'm not actually worried about the surgery itself. I am worried about my son not knowing what's happening and being in pain.

Any advice or insight would be great. He will be in the hospital (childrens) for a week or so, which is 1.5 hours from home. I will be staying with him the entire time.

Thanks in advance.

grbnik · February 2013

ChoicesMom:
My DS had OHS right before he was 5 months old. It was hard, really hard, but you get through it .
We were 6 hours from home for his so stayed at the Ronald McDonald House. I suggest asking to talk to the hospital social worker for help with food/parking/gas vouchers. Also, don't feel bad about leaving or taking time for yourself, especially when he is in the PICU. The nurses are great (for the most part) and there isn't a whole lot you can do. Definitely try to get some sleep at night, if you get sick or run down you are no good to him. Just remember to take care of yourself, as hard as that is .
As for pain, they keep them really doped up. The withdrawal was worse for my DS than the pain had been. My DS had complications following his so we were in hospital longer than we had planned but he is doing fantastic right now . Here is a link I made to celebrate DS's first year if you would like to take a look, there is a snippet from his hospital stay and surgery https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Z1kiATdy2c&feature=youtube_gdata
Feel free to ask any questions you have, good luck!

What a touching video! I cried for a bunch, but smiled as well!

Good luck to you all! My thoughts are with you!

goldenleaves · February 2013

Hugs. Handing him over will be the worst part.

Lauren had open heart surgery at 6 weeks old. My advice is to try to keep your mind occupied during surgery!

LexiSophie55 · February 2013

Thanks everyone.

Thinking about handing him over is the only part that gets me choked up. I can't even imagine how hard that's going to be.

The surgery is going to be a short one (40 minutes) - but we will try to keep busy.

Want a personalized experience?

5 Month old - OHS in 2 weeks

Re: 5 Month old - OHS in 2 weeks

Choose Another Board

Search Boards