Things you wish you had known

[Vabeachlady 37]

Ok bypass veterans, are there any things that you didn't find out until just before or after your surgery? One example is, I just found out that I will have to give myself a blood thinner injection for 7 days after surgery. Didn't know a thing about that until I met with the nurse coordinator this week. Not looking forward to that.

Edited November 21, 2014 by Vabeachlady

[Mbstas 57]

Did not have the blood thinner injections or meds.

[HYCIERRA 144]

The needles are incredibly tiny and you put them into the fat on your tummy. I never even felt them! Definitely nothing to stress over!

[Jonathan Blue 311]

During your stay in the hospital you will be poked and prodded so much, that the little things like that will barely be noticeable. Plus, you will be doped up on pain medications so that will make everything much more tolerable. The biggest thing I can recommend in the hospital is to stay on top of your pain medications. Find out how long they are supposed to last and let your nurse know half an hour before they are due. Usually injections last 2 hours and oral liquids last 4. I work in a hospital and know that if they are out of stock of a particular medication on the floor it can take some time to come up. That is why I was always trying to give my nurse a heads up in advance. Be polite though. They sometimes get distracted with everyone and everything they have going on and can forget. It is your job to gently remind them.

Coming off of pain medication is a lot like falling off a cliff. Once you start to go down, you do down fast and it is hard and takes time to climb back up. That is why I suggest staying on top of it all.

[Vabeachlady 37]

Thanks for the comments. It's interesting that some surgeons have their patients use blood thinners and some don't. I'm not afraid of it hurting...afraid of just doing it. If I watch needle when I get a shot or give blood, or even watch someone else, I get very faint.

Good advice on the pain meds. Surgery nurse said essentially the same thing. I know everyone is different in pain tolerance, how long did you need pain meds?

[tfarr 270]

My fear is getting intubated.

[Jonathan Blue 311]

@@Vabeachlady , I needed pain meds the whole time I was in the hospital and then for about two weeks after. I probably could have stopped earlier, but I wanted my recovery to be as pain free as possible. The less pain I had the more I could move around and the faster I would actually heal. Over the two weeks of oral percocent, I took the full amount religiously for about a week, then I kept on the same every four hour schedule and just reduced the amount I was taking. Then I started venturing out into the world of taking longer between doses.

@@tfarr I agree completely. Getting intubated was my biggest fear. The good news is that you will be asleep when they do this to you and you will also be asleep when that take it out. You will have a bit of a sore throat for a couple days, but nothing too bad. You will honestly be more concerned about everything else going on around you and being particularly drugged to notice.

[grandma54 11]

Thanks Jonathan Blue

[tfarr 270]

@@Johnathan blue

I'm out and home from surgery.

I was surprised I didn't have a sore throat.

I knew it would take a long time to get down a Protein Shake, but 2 hrs?!? Lol