Day 12

I am feeling more energy but my chest muscles are hurting more. Maybe I’m using arms too much? 

I still have lots of bruising and it still hurts when I cough. I took shower this morning and I am not sure if my incision looks better or not. How can you tell? 

I lost a couple more pounds of water. Took a two-hour nap in basement, it’s hard to get comfortable. Took two five minute walks in the house. 

The physical therapist called and said they will be here next week on January 2 at 10:00 a.m. They are trying to get the insurance approvals and all of that which is hard over the holidays. 

January 2 is also going to be the day I start back to work. I am hoping I have more energy by then. 

I still do not go anywhere without my hugging bear. I am still coughing at times, especially after using the incentive spirometer. Which I moved the target up a bit on today because I am getting better at it.

I weigh 13 pounds less than when I got home, so that is good news. Basically two pounds less than yesterday. It is pretty much the water weight coming off. My legs still look swollen and puffy.

Day 11 - Kinda tired

Today is Day 11 post surgery and I felt more tired today than yesterday. I woke up, got ready for the day, made breakfast, and then had a two hour nap. I was getting excited that every day would be a little better. But today I was just tired and meh.

I headed over to the AHA support group for some advice from my new friends there. They assure me it's normal and that some days will be good ones, and others will be meh ones. 

So I soldier on. 

Useful Guidance Post Surgery

When researching CABG I saw a lot of useful into on the Cleveland Clinic site, as well as in from the NHS in the UK. My hospital did not give me as robust of a binder or packet of information, and I found myself Googling things daily.

Then I found this from the The Society of Thoracic Surgeons. It was quite helpful, so I wanted to share it here! S.O many things were made clear in this handy little book. I am going to tell my surgeon and his NP they need to hand out the link to this instead of the pages the printed off from the MyEpic MyChart and gave to me. This is way more comprehensive and patient-friendly.

AHS Patient Brochure

Day 10 - To Sleep, Perchance to (NOT) Dream

The nightmares are really a nuisance. My husband said I cry out when I am sleeping. It reminds me of the Seinfeld episode where the woman tells Kramer "you scream in your sleep." LOL!

I do not at all want to take the oxycodone but Jim wants me to take them to help me sleep and help prevent any pain.  

I seem to wake up between 1:00 a.m. and 3:00 a.m. and then my husband wakes up and we watch TV a little bit, take the oxycodone pill, wait for it to kick in and then try to go back to sleep. 

Sleeping flat also makes me mouth breathe so my throat is always dry. So I keep water next to the bed and sip on it all night. So between that and the diuratic pill - I am going to the bathroom more than I want to.

Every time I get out of bed I am worried that I am doing it wrong. Did I use my arm too much that time? Wait - did I just feel something? Is my sternum moving? 

I lie flat like a vampire with my arms at my sides when I sleep, and I am trying to remember not to lift my arms over my head.  And I am wearing the bra 24/7 which is actually not that bad, as long as I cover the drain wounds with some gauze.  That helps. But I still have adhesive glue all over me that won't come off, and the tape they gave me at the hospital to use at home is just as sticky. 

All small things. But irritating.  Thank God for my husband, Jim. He has been a saint. He really is doting on my and I know he is still worried about me. But I do think I'm feeling stronger today. 

We spent most of our day downstairs in the family room watching tv - and sleeping through the show! LOL! So I basically did 32 stairs up and down today. I take them one at a time - but my right quad is really weak which makes it harder.  That's been an ongoing issue, but it is weaker than it was for sure. That's all related to my previous knee issues, and I can't wait to get stronger to take care of that problem too. 

Day 9 - Home Nurse Visit

When I left the hospital, they set up an order for "home visits" from a nurse and a physical therapist, but they warned me it might be delayed because of the Christmas holiday.

Today the home nurse called me in the morning and scheduled a time to come by in the early afternoon.

She came in with a big bag or two, and gave me a folder with information from the home health care company - basic info. She looked at my incisions, asked me a few questions and took my pulse, temperature and blood pressure. Everyone seems to be using those roller thermometers now that they roll or swipe across your forehead and sometimes down to your chin.

She was very nice, wrote a lot of notes and - honestly - spent more time writing notes than actually examining me or talking to me. But nurses have a hard job and I am sure the paperwork is ridiculous.

She said everything looked ok and that I would get a call for follow up visits, as well as a call from the physical therapist. 

That was it. 

I was glad to have a nurse look at the incision. I have no idea if it is ok. The paperwork says to let them know if it 'looks red' etc. but -- it has always looked red. She said it's fine. 

One of the reasons I am going to take so many photos of my incision is to help other people know what to expect. There really is no good visual guide out there. I'm thinking I can take photo every week or two and make a timeline. Sounds like a good idea. 

I'm still tired today and I think I am using my arms too much when standing up from the recliner. When I got out bed this morning I felt something in my chest - not pain or anything - just like, 'movement.' And maybe I heard something more than felt it? I don't know. So I was worried my sternum was moving.  It actually felt kinda like how my knee does when I squat down to pick something up. That is knee arthritis. And it reminded me of that. 

Day 8

My leg hurts a bit today where the incision is, and it is still a bit swollen. I am 2.5 pounds lighter than yesterday, which is nice to see that coming down. I still have issues getting on and off the toilet but it is getting better and Jim put the new toilet riser on the toilet which helps.

I slept most of the day and had nightmares again last night. Sleeping is hard and my tracker tells me I got 5 hours last night. 

I took a photo of my incision/scar today. It isn't bad but it sure isn't beautiful. The drain scabs are also ugly.

I also have 'road rash' on my lower back where the big bandage was, and several other areas of my skin are irritated or scabby. 

My office is closed this week for the holiday, so technically I have only taken off 4 days of work from my new job, and those were last week for the surgery. My goal is to be back at work on January 2 - working from home on my computer, but still working.  I am so tired during the day that I hope I can make that happen. I have a week to heal up and get more strength. 

Day 7 - Merry Christmas!

One week ago today I went into the hospital and had open heart surgery.  It is so strange to think that it has only been a week. It feels like a month. It also feels like it never happened.

I keep my hugging bear with me all the time in case I need to cough. It does hurt when I cough. But it is not that bad. Probably a 3 on the scale of 1-10. 

We had some food my brother brought me today from the family party -- I love his holiday meatballs so I was so glad to have those today. I also slept a bunch today. 

Jim dotes on me which is nice, but it is still hard getting up from the toilet. I can't wait for the toilet riser to get here!

And today I weigh two pounds less than yesterday. 

Day 6 - Christmas Eve

I weighed myself this morning, and they told me to weigh myself daily.  If I gain more than 1-1/2 pounds in day, or 4 pounds in a week, I have to call them.

I weigh about 20 pounds more today than I did the day I went in for surgery. 

I know it is mostly water and fluid and that is why they have me on the diuretic. But it is still a LOT of weight to gain.

Jim and I mostly watched TV today and I talked on the phone with everyone. I told them we are not having any visitors for Christmas. I am sad I am not seeing my family or the kids for Christmas. But I want to get strong to be there for the next one, right?

I am staying positive -- but I am also very tired.  I sleep fitfully and the dreams are scary. I don't totally remember them but they were dark. Yuck.

Day Five. Saturday. Going home!

On Saturday, December 23, 2023 I was cleared to go home! Huzzah!

I had bad dreams and didn't sleep that great last night. My back and butt are also sore from just always being on them.  The giant bandage on my lower back is also bothering me and I want to take it off. 

I have not had a shower - just the weird wipe-downs - and cannot wait to go home and get in the shower. I am still tired and feeling a little weak but I feel better every day. 

I was given pages of instructions on what to do and not do -- and the incredible nursing staff told me to call if I have any issues and the NP from the ICU gave me the direct line to them to call if I needed anything. Tomorrow is Christmas Eve - so the holiday is here. Which means I do not see the surgeon for a follow up until 1/5. 

My husband brought up my "go home bag" and I was able to change back into regular clothes and out of the hospital gown - finally! (I made a post on what to bring to the hospital with you too - find it here!) 

Getting into the house was harder than expected.

My husband pulled into the garage and we walked in the backyard, and up the 7 steps to our back deck and then into the house. By the time I walked to the front of the house and sat in the recliner I was exhausted. 

I sat there for a couple or hours next to my Christmas tree, and was glad to be home.

I had a nice cup of tea and just relaxed.  I am so glad that I put my tree up ahead of time, too, because I enjoyed having it there for the holiday.  Christmas is my favorite time of year.  Honestly, when I put it up I was worried about making it home to see it again. Sitting next to it, I realized I had indeed made it home, and was doing way better than I had expected. It was not as 'hard' as I thought it would be. Again, this is probably also a result of my attitude. I tried to stay positive. 

I made the trek upstairs and it was a little hard, but I took one stair at a time and rested between steps. I was worried about getting into bed. Fortunately we have an adjustable bed -- so I was able to elevate my head or legs if I wanted once I got into bed.

I was always worried about making sure I didn't use my arms to push myself up -- especially from the recliner or out of bed.  I was always so focused on that worry.  One of the NPs at the hospital said "they are pretty sturdy wires holding it together, so you will be ok." But still, I worried. 

My legs were also quite puffy (see right hand photo above) and my feet were puffed up for a few days. they still had me on the diuretic to remove water from my body, so I was also going to the bathroom a lot.

My first shower.

My first shower was pretty good, but you cannot let the water spray from the showerhead hit your incision.  So I had my back to the showerhead and my husband helped me wash my back. The discharge nurse had told me not to lift my hands over my head, but the NP before surgery in the surgeon's office told me that I could lift my arms to wash my hair and even seemed to shrug it off. I got conflicting advice on stuff like that which was irritating.

I was able to remove the big adhesive bandage they had on my lower back all week, and it felt good to get that off, as well as a lot of other bandages and tapes that were still on me. 

I let my husband wash my hair and did the best I could to get the adhesive off my skin from all of the things that had been stuck to me.  If you can, ask for adhesive remover wipes before you leave the hospital. That stuff is incredibly hard to get off. 

I was exhausted by the time I finished my shower.  

Sleep was fitful.

I slept, but had bad dreams again, and my husband said that I shouted out in my sleep a few times. I was taking the oxycodone 5 pills every few hours and my husband gave me one before bed.  

I had to lie flat on my back to sleep, and they warn you not to roll onto your side. Fortunately we have the adjustable bed and with my head raised a bit it was ok.  I woke up around 3:30 in the morning and had to go to the bathroom, which was tiring, My husband had to help me on and off the toilet because it was so low and I just didn't have that much strength.  (See my comments on how to prepare for surgery here. It includes info on low toilets and getting toilet risers BEFORE surgery.)

Day Four. Friday.

The infiltration on my wrist is a big pain. I asked them to move the IV to my left wrist because even having an IV on my right hand makes it hard to use the bathroom (women will understand.) 

They moved it and my wrist felt better.

Today I also got to walk a lap or two around the floor, and physical therapy had me walk down to their special room and go up and down a couple of stairs. I passed with flying colors! 

I am still tired, and I still feel a little weak when standing up.  But I am definitely getting better at getting up and down. 

I got my daily wipe-down bath with the gross body wipes today and was once again glad I have my powder with me to make me feel less damp and more silky. Smells way better than the wipes too.

I think Friday was the day they removed my central line too. This was on the left side of my chest below my shoulder. This is a line that goes directly into my heart. Just like when they removed the drains, they had me hold my breath while they pulled it out.  It didn't hurt, but the length of the line was a lot longer than I expected it to be.  

Now the only things I was still hooked up to are the adhesive leads on my chest for the heart monitor and the IV.  But I have a lot of bandages where things used to be! 

I was still getting iron infusions to raise my hemoglobin, and they also had social services come by to make sure I had a good place to go for recovery. 

I had bad dreams again last night - really freaky weird ones. I blame the oxy but the nurse also told me I have been through a major surgery and sometimes that just happens.

I really am tired of being in the hospital, and cannot wait to go home.

Don't catch COVID or a cold.

One thing they have been clear on is that I have to avoid catching a cold or a cough. I need to keep using the bear - which I do anytime I need to move or have to cough, which is less today than yesterday.

The pressure from a cough is very hard on the sternum and they do not want me catching COVID or RSV or anything at all. I cannot risk breaking the sternum wires or opening the incision. It is 3 days until Christmas and my husband Jim and I are going to hunker down at home by ourselves to avoid catching anything.

I don't know what my sternal wires look like - I saw the Xray but couldn't really make it out. But here is a drawing I found online that shows you sternal wires. 

They took me down to a standing X-ray today instead of taking one in the bed, and it was nice to go traveling around the hospital a bit. 

Day Three. Thursday.

It's Thursday and I walked around the entire floor with the physical therapists, and also had my echocardiogram done.  My ejection fraction has improved to 55!  Woohoo!  That is the low end of the normal range - so this is a big success.

Two doctors came in to give me the news and they were giddy. My nurse was in the room at the time and told me that it was amazing to have such an improvement -- and that being proactive in having this surgery was likely why I was able to improve it so well. 

They were supposed to move me off of Cardiac ICU and into a regular room yesterday, but there were no rooms available, so I stayed in ICU longer. They told me I may go home as early as tomorrow, but physical therapy needs to have me come walk some stairs. 

When I told my surgeon I had 7 stairs to get into my house and 16 stairs to get up and down to my bedroom he said "Good! I want you up and walking and doing stairs!"

I am tired and sleeping a lot, but I do feel 'better' and stronger than I did yesterday. There is always activity going on. They come in daily to take a chest x-ray to look at the sternum and make sure it is still good and so far everything has been great. 

I still had mad nightmares last night, and they are giving me the oxycodone 5 every few hours. I am not a fan.

I get a lot of compliments on how well I am doing, and how great I am recovering.

If I can be honest -- I think it is just my attitude that they are responding to.  I am trying to be positive and focus on doing what I need to do to get stronger.  I thank God that I am under such good care, and that I am healing and doing well. 

A word about infiltration.

When an IV is in your arm, in this case giving me iron in the photo shown here, there are sometimes problems with something called infiltration. I had to get more iron because I have anemia, so this may not be an issue for others. But the nurses told me iron often causes infiltration because it is thicker or more viscous. At any rate, infiltration causes the liquid to infiltrate the tissue surrounding the IV site and make it swell up.  Which happened to me and it hurts.  When it happens you also cannot bend or use your wrist very well for about 4-5 days after this happens.

It wasn't the worst thing ever, but it was a pain in the butt.  Because of my anemia issues, and the doctor's desire to get my hemoglobin up higher, I was staying the hospital a day longer than I probably would have otherwise. 

They finally got a bed for me in the regular area and I left the ICU Thursday early evening to my new bed and room. 

Day Two. Wednesday.

Today I saw my incision scar.

They removed the incision bandage this morning and I got my first look at my scar. It actually wasn't that bad. I have photos elsewhere on the blog of the incision if you want to see it. But they use internal glue or something so the scar wasn't anywhere near as bad as what I was expecting.  

I had very little feeling in my chest, and across my chest. They told me it will take months to get some of the feeling back as nerves are cut when they open the chest for the sternotomy. It takes months for those nerves to grow back and some never will.  It was a strange sensation but not bad.

A word on pain killers.

They were giving me oxycodone 10 every few hours, along with Tylenol. I did not like how the drugs were making me feel and I asked them to stop giving them to me. I felt like I was in a woozy dream state, and I also had terrible dreams the night before.  I was taking the Tylenol and they gave me something else that was not an opiod.  But I was also not able to get comfortable, and the head NP on the floor came in to talk to me.

The NP explained that they felt it was necessary for me to be on them to ensure I was not in pain, and that without them I might feel pain that would hinder my recovery. They assured me that in-hospital use of opiods was safe and even necessary. We agreed I would go on the oxycodone 5 instead of the 10, and that I would let them know if I was feeling any breakthrough pain and needed more.

Shifting around in bed, or in the chair, was uncomfortable, and my back was sore from lying flat on it for so long.  (News flash: you will be sleeping flat on your back for a couple of months, so get used to it.) None of this was unbearable pain, but when the physical therapists came for me to take a walk, getting up out of bed and standing was uncomfortable - but I think it was mostly pain originating from the drains under the incision. 

Catheter out - able to go to the bathroom!

They took the catheter out today and I was able to go to the bathroom.  The physical therapy team came by and had me walk a little bit to show them I was able to do it. 

The nurses cleaned me off today with some wipes, but I felt damp and gross. Luckily I had brought my powder with me, so when I went to the bathroom I was able to powder up a bit and feel a little more dry and less gross. Hard to explain, but I wasn't able to shower yet.  And those wet wipes they use smell medicinal, and really leave you feeling wet and damp down in your nether area. (I say this as politely as I can.)

They took the saphenous vein from my left leg, and today I was able to really get a good look at my leg. Here are a few photos. My legs were both swollen, this one more so than the right leg because of the surgery they did to remove the vein.

So on the left is my inner thigh, and there are steri-strips covering the top incision. This was a small incision at the top of the saphenous vein. These have to stay on until they fall off. It took about 2 weeks for that to happen. 

The middle photo is the incision near the crease of my leg where they did the big incision. You can also kinda see a line that goes down my leg, following where the vein used to be that they used. 

The photo on the right shows the small incision at the bottom of the saphenous vein where they made a small incision there, also covered by a steri-strip. These didn't hurt, but I did not have a lot of feeling on my leg near the big incision. This is because some of the nerves were cut and I was told this would take time.

You will be getting up a lot to go to the bathroom.

They had me on a diuretic to remove the water from my system, and you can tell you are holding water by how swollen your legs are.  This means a lot of trips to the bathroom.  From the time I entered surgery to the time I was weighed the next day, I had gained 20 pounds. This is mostly fluid and it is from the blood and other "products" they give you in surgery. 

They also removed the drains today.

The drains from your chest are also removing fluids and blood and you see it in the bag next to your bed. I wish I had taken a photo of the drains, but I didn't. 

They have you hold your breath when they remove these, but it does not hurt. It feels a little strange, but there wasn't really any pain.  But I was very glad to have them removed and found that some of the discomfort I was feeling was gone when they were removed.

First day after surgery. Tuesday.

They came in and removed the inflation sleeve on my leg and asked me to stand up next to the bed. I felt a little weak, but more scared about moving around and HOW to get up than anything.

Because your sternum is cut, and is now held together by what my nurse called “piano wires,” they do not want you pushing up with your arms to stand. They help you roll onto your side and then sit up and swing your legs to the floor. I had been practicing this at home because I have a little knee problem right now. And you hug your bear or pillow while you do this. 

The beat it into you - you cannot push yourself up using your arms and you need to keep your arms below shoulder height.

This video was probably one of the more useful ones I found online while I was researching.

I did the roll and they helped me stand, and the hardest part was that I was hooked up to so many tubes and lines, they all need to be moved or shifted by someone. 

So I stood up and it felt good. And they all congratulated me on being strong and doing a good job. 😊

I got back in bed for a bit. And they came in later and asked if I’d like to sit in the chair and I said yes. So they helped me roll onto my side in bed, hug my bear and swing my legs again to get up. 

I sat up in the chair for the next 9 hours. I are breakfast, watched tv, hung out with my bear and my husband, and ate lunch and dinner there. Apparently that was a very good thing because every doctor and nurse and specialist who came to see me kept telling me how great it was to see me 'up in the chair.' 

They also gave me the breathing tool - it's called an incentive spirometer. As a gamer, I loved it. I had to suck in air to raise the puck in the big chamber, while keeping the ball between the little arrows. But it does make you cough a little, and they WANT you to cough. You are trying to cough the junk out of your lungs that settled there in surgery. So I always had my Jimmy bear handy too (named him after my husband.)

Here you see me that morning when my husband showed up around 7:00 a.m. or so, goofy smile, showing off my spirometer and bear. 

Oh - and it turned into a quadruple.

So my husband told me that the surgeon actually fixed a fourth artery when he was in there. He decided to go ahead and do it which took a couple of extra hours. But he told my husband he wanted to do it to get it taken care of since he was already in there. I was a little surprised to hear that, but glad that maybe that prevents me from having to ever do this again. 

Visits from the Docs

During the day the surgeon, anesthesiologist, cardiac fellows, nurses and more all came by to see me. Everyone told me how well I did and how strong I was. I was completely unconscious during surgery so I have no idea what happens in there or what they mean that I’m strong.

The surgeons had told me before that half of CABG surgeries are performed when people come in through the ER with a heart attack or something. I had not had any symptoms and they found my blockages because I came in for something else.  

When they were scheduling my surgery they told me because I was healthy and “low risk” I would have an easier and faster recovery.  I wonder if this is also why people were telling me I was strong? I don’t know. But in hindsight it made me glad I decided to have the surgery BEFORE I got weaker and ended up in the ER. So if you’re on a situation like mine - it’s a smart decision and you can get ahead of major problems by having the surgery when they tell you to. (Versus wait… which I kinda wanted to do.)

So you know, you don't see much of your surgeon. I saw him before surgery and after. Otherwise I saw his NP, one of his fellows or another resident. I guess I should be happy - not seeing him a bunch meant it went well and he could move on to harder cases. LOL!

As you can see from the photo -- I am doing ok.  This is the morning after surgery. 

When you wake up from surgery.

Here is a photo my husband took of me right before surgery, then later that day after surgery after they removed the breathing tube, and then the next morning sitting up in my chair next to the bed.  So in 24 hours I was already sitting up in my chair, and ate breakfast with my new little hugging bear.

I look terrible in the middle photo -- but I don't remember any of that. I did have a helluva time combing my hair. And I had that little silver cap on during surgery. I look like a purple martian! :-D

How the day went.

I went in around 7am and the next thing I remember it was 8:00 p.m. and I was in the cardiac ICU waking up talking to my nurse. She had my husband on her cell phone talking to me, because apparently I had asked her to call him. 

He had left a half hour earlier, and had been sitting with me since 4pm but I didn’t remember any of it. 

My brother and husband had been at the hospital all day and they said when I came back from surgery I was all wrapped and swaddled up like a baby in blankets. They were there when they took the breathing tube out and apparently my voice was hoarse and we were making jokes. They said I sounded like the guy in the Shining and I heard them and said “REDRUM” and everyone laughed. I don’t remember any of this. That is around when the middle photo was taken. So I was joking already by that time.

I also woke up with a teddy bear. 

You will be given a heart pillow or a bear or something that you have to hold against your chest when you cough, or move or anything. This bear was my constant companion for the next month.

They had my husband take my little bag of personal things home with him, so I did not have my cell phone or chap stick etc. the first night. But I was on a lot of pain meds and didn’t need it. 

My left leg was wrapped in ace bandages or something because they had taken my saphenous vein for the grafts. My right leg had an inflatable “sock” on it that inflated every five minutes to prevent any blood clots.

I “slept” that night, but it felt like I woke up every five minutes because I would wake up and look at the clock and only 5 minutes had passed. This went on until 6 or 7 a.m. In hindsight I think I was still loopy from the anesthesia and pain meds, and the noise from the leg inflating was likely “waking me” every five minutes. The nurse was also coming in regularly during the night. I had amazing nurses.

I was not in pain, but I definitely felt some pressure, specifically right below the incision where the drains were. If I moved, it felt a little uncomfortable.  It was not horribly 'painful.'

The nurse also put a pillow behind my one shoulder in the middle of the night so I wasn’t completely on my back, and I preferred the head of the bed elevated a bit. 

I still had a catheter in so I didn’t have to get up to use the bathroom or anything. The drains under the incision also led to a bag on the side of the bed, and the nurses checked those pretty regularly. The drains were draining blood and fluid off of the surgical area. 

Overall it was not a bad experience. I was a little loopy from the anesthesia and pain meds but I was mostly comfortable. And I had my little bear with me to keep me company.

Morning of Surgery

When I arrived at the hospital we were in a waiting room, signed some forms, and then eventually were brought into the room where they had me change into a gown and fancy silver hair cap.

I put all of my clothing and personal items into a bag I brought with me and left them with my husband. (See my post about What to Bring to The Hospital.)

The various doctors came in to say hello and told me what to expect. They also put a very large bandage-type thing across my lower back. I was told that this is to protect my skin because I was going to be lying on my back for a long time. It was one large adhesive piece that covered my entire lower back and felt plastic-like on the outside. 

They put the IV in and the anesthesiologist told me he would give me something to calm me down a bit before we went in for surgery. Two minutes later they came in to take me! 

They wheeled me into the operating room - which I remember looking like a combination of a space ship and a robot factory with so many things hanging from the ceiling and racks and carts around. They had me climb up onto a very narrow table and lie down and I asked the anesthesiologist "hey I thought you were going to give me something?" 

He laughed and that is the last thing I remember. 

This is not a photo of my operating room, but it looks as close as I could find to what I remember. But I remember the room being whiter, bigger, and with so many people in it. I could not believe how many people were in there. 

Preparing for Surgery

Before surgery there a lot of things you have to do. I had to take a shower for the 2 days prior with Hibiclens.

The instructions are on the bottle they give you, and you cannot get it into your eyes, mouth or anywhere in your private areas.

It is a little bit drying, and your skin feels weird afterward. But it leaves something on your skin that protects it from infection.

I had to stop taking some medication a week before the surgery and some two days before, some the day before. I made a chart for the week leading up to surgery with everything I had to do every day to make sure I did it right.

Some things I wish I had done before surgery that you may want to think about:

Get a shower chair.  I did not get one, but it might be helpful. I would have used one if I had one for those first couple of days.  A plastic folding chair in the shower could also work - like the ones you can get at Costco. It was hard to stand there for the whole shower with my back to the shower, not able to lift my arms over my head and my husband having to shampoo my hair and wash my back. A chair would have helped.

Get a toilet riser or booster. This was a big issue for me the first couple of days. We have very low toilets in our upstairs bedrooms. They are whatever the standard toilet is they put in houses. I also had a little knee issue and related strength issues in that leg, but you can't push off the countertop with your arms to stand up. They want you to stand upright without using your arms.  This is much harder to do when the toilet is lower and you are weaker.  Not using your arms is going to be the big thing to remember for the first month or so.

This is the one we ended up ordering and my husband said it was easy to install. 

When we didn't need it anymore it was also easy to remove.

The higher nature of the seat helped me the most. I tried not to use the arms to help myself stand more than I had to. 

Get a shower head wand. We ordered one once I got home, but by the time it arrived from Amazon, I was doing better in the shower and we didn't need it.  You cannot let the shower spray hit your incision, so a shower wand will help you rinse off better. 

Get a handy carrying bag. I kept my spirometer, my chapstick, medicines, cell phone charger and other assorted things in my bag and brought it with me from room to room while I was recovering so I always had it with me. Once I came downstairs for the day, I wanted to make sure I had everything I needed. I also carried my hugging bear with me always! 

Things to bring to the hospital with you.

Here are things I brought with me to the hospital that were helpful, and a couple I wish I had thought of. I kept the small items in a little pouch right in bed with me so I could have them when I needed them. 

1. Extra long phone charging cord. The three foot cord that comes with your phone isn’t long enough. Get a 6 foot cord on Amazon and then you can have someone plug the phone into the wall behind the bed and it will reach to your bed. That way you don’t have to get up to charge it, reach it, or have to leave it somewhere else to charge. The only real electrical outlets you can use are probably behind your bed, or underneath the bed rail on the bed itself. I took the pic here to show what the wall behind my bed looked like. Somewhere back there is where my husband plugged in my long phone cord.

2. Body powder. You’re going to be cleaned up by nurses with wipes for a couple days. And you’re going to feel damp and gross. I like Gold Bond Ultimate body powder, but even baby powder works. You can’t put it on your chest or incision but you can dust your leg creases and down there. It was a god send for me, and they do not hand out baby powder at the hospital.

3. Chapstick. Your lips are going to be dry and all the hospital has are little packets of petroleum jelly which were a little gross. It’s amazing how nice a chap stick can make you feel.

4. Post surgical bra for women. Or for men if you need a post surgical brace. The hospital might give you one, but the one I had was way nicer than what they gave me. (Larger women will want to see my post on this!)

5. Comb or brush. Don’t forget that. You can buy disposable ones and throw them away when you are done if you want. But you will want to brush your hair.

6. Reading glasses if you need them. Don’t forget! 

7. Hand sanitizer.  They give you Kleenex, but sometimes it is nice to feel more sanitized.  And you might not get up for a day and need this.

8. Your own toiletry kit. I travel a lot, so I have a kit always at the ready with toothpaste, mouthwash etc. It was handy to have this, even though they will give you a toothbrush and toothpaste.  

I take notes on my iPhone, but you can also bring a small notebook and pen if you want. I found it helpful to take notes and even photos as things were happening. I was pretty loopy on pain meds the first day or so, and making notes I could read later was helpful.

'Go There', 'Stay There' and 'Go Home' Bags

GO THERE BAG: I had a small tote bag that I brought with me the day of surgery. When I undressed for surgery, I put my clothes in there and gave it to my husband to store in the car until I was discharged.  

I also had a small STAY THERE bag that I left in the car. This was what I would need after surgery, for my stay in the hospital.  It had my surgical bra, underwear, toiletry bag and small essentials bag holding everything I outlined above, and he brought that up to my room the day after surgery.

The day of surgery and night afterward they don't want you to have anything of value with you -- wallet, cell phone etc.  So my husband Jim kept all of that for me, and brought it up the next morning. 

My "go there bag" was now my "GO HOME" bag, and it stayed in the car until the day I was discharged and then he brought it up so I could change back into my street clothes which were still safely in the bag.

I felt pretty darn organized and had everything I needed when I needed it!

How it REALLY all began.

I had no idea I had blockages in my heart. No idea.  

Yes, I am overweight, and yes I have diabetes, and yes, I know I can eat better and exercise more.  But I am an active executive who hops on and off airplanes, travels, works hard, and enjoys life without too much issue.  

I did not have any chest pain, I did not have a heart attack, I did not feel pressure in my chest.  They tell me I had 'silent ishemia.'  Basically, blockages in my heart arteries were preventing my heart from getting enough blood, which was then reducing my heart function.  Turns out people with diabetes are more likely to have silent ischemia.

Essentially, part of my heart was starving for blood, and I had no idea.  But then something weird happened in October of 2023.

"Maybe I'm just sitting too much."

I started a new job in August of 2023, and by October I was traveling to clients, working on projects and fully into the hustle and bustle of an exciting new company.  I recall walking across a bridge to the office one morning, feeling a little more tired than usual as I got to the top of the bridge, and a little out of breath.  "Whew!" I thought to myself, "maybe I've been sitting too much. I need to get back to my workouts!"  

Over the next week or two, I was in and out of 4 airports, and I noticed that climbing the jetway off the planes with my suitcase and workbag was similarly causing more fatigue and breathlessness, and I finally also noticed that my heart rate seemed to be a little high.

Even being overweight, all of this is unusual for me.  I tend to take extra laps around the airport before boarding as exercise, so this was NOT normal, and was definitely something new. I called my doc and scheduled a video visit for the next week.

Stress Test & Bloodwork

The doctor ordered a stress test and had me get some some blood work.  The next day she called me - my hemoglobin was 7.3 (which is dangerously low) and she told me to go to the ER immediately. I have had anemia my whole life, but I take iron every day and I had not had a problem since college.  My hemoglobin had also been 12.3 in July — so this was a very big drop. 

I went to the ER with my husband, and — I will cut to the chase here — I have a rare hereditary bleeding disease called HHT that my Mother had and brother has. As soon as the cardiac team came to see me they said “this is symptomatic anemia - you’re bleeding somewhere internally.”  This is what caused my drop in hemoglobin, which was causing the fatigue and the elevated heart rate. 

To find where I was bleeding, they ordered a colonoscopy, endoscopy and pill endoscopy (which was very cool, but that’s another story for another day!) They found the problem and I was diagnosed - I do indeed have HHT.

But there’s another problem.  And it's with my heart.

The cardiology team came by again and told me they had found some things in my tests that were worrisome and once gastroenterology cleared me, they wanted to do a angiogram. They thought I might need a stent for an artery that had some blockage, and my ejection fraction was 35%. Which is low - way too low. And I was walking around in the world with no idea.

Fast forward so I can get to the point - I did have blockages, and they did not want to do stents because I’m too young, and I also can’t be on heavy blood thinners with my new HHT diagnosis (which are required after a stent) and they want me to talk to the cardiac surgeons.

I was beyond scared - I was terrified.  One of the cardiac fellows came by and reassured me that I was going to be ok. He said that they always want to be aggressive to get ahead of these kinds of things, and that I had time to go home, talk to my family and prepare for surgery. I was 'stable' and 'low risk.'

I was released from the hospital with an appointment to get a surgical consult four weeks later. 

How serious can it be? They say I am low risk and stable.

Because they gave me a blood transfusion and iron in the hospital, my hemoglobin was back up, so I felt pretty good a week after leaving the hospital. 

So .... maybe I don't need surgery after all.  I had just started a brand new job I liked, and hey -- they said I'm stable.  

They let me go home and didn't seem too worried. Maybe they are being overly dramatic? I mean - OPEN HEART SURGERY? That's barbaric.  Certainly medicine has come a long way. Isn't there a minimally invasive method? 

I spent the next few weeks checking out info from Cleveland Clinic, Mayo Clinic, even the minimally-invasive CABG options at University of Chicago. But in all of my conversations and research the words that hit me the hardest were that CABG is the "gold standard" in repairing blocked arteries. Full stop.

I desperately wanted a different option because I was afraid of what I understood to be a very major, invasive and horrendous surgery. Googling it was scary and thinking about my chest being opened, and being on heart and lung bypass machines -- I mean COME ON!  

Meeting with the surgical team.

A month after I was admitted to the hospital for the HHT episode, I was sitting in the surgical team's office with one of the surgeons and their nurse practitioner.  I was scared, and nervous, and asking questions about all of the risks I had read about online. They told me to stop Googling and to listen to them instead.  

When I asked about the 1 in 100 people who has a heart attack during surgery? He told me that those statistics are national statistics covering wide age ranges and situations — and their practice had far lower incidences than that. Plus national averages don't apply to low-risk people like me. 

He was explaining I needed 3 bypasses and that it was a pretty 'textbook' surgery.  I was told I am young and low risk and that this was a surgery they do hundreds of times a year. "I just did one of these this morning," the surgeon said. 

When I continued to pepper them with questions that were clearly based in fear, the NP finally said "I don't say this to be mean, but you are unremarkable. Technically we could have a junior surgeon do this."

Fortunately - they don't have junior surgeons at the hospital I was at, so I would get one of the big guns.

The surgeon I was meeting with was persistent and asked me to pick the date - either 12/12 or 12/18 was available.  "Be home by Christmas!" he said.  

Can't this wait until spring?

I was hemming and hawing and I could tell he was getting irritated. "If I am so low risk, and healthy and young - can't this wait until summer? Or spring?"

He said, "you're asking me about risk percentages of having the surgery - but the unknown is the risk of you waiting and having a cardiac event in a week, a month, six months -- and then you won't be healthy and low-risk." 

I scheduled an elective CABG that very day for December 18, 2023. I now had about 2 weeks to prepare.

Cabbage (CABG) For Christmas. Where my story begins.

As I write this entry, I realize it was three weeks ago* right now that I went in for my CABG Open Heart Surgery.  CABG, for the uninitiatied, stands for Coronary Artery Bypass Graft, and is pronounced like the vegetable, cabbage.  CABG is an open heart bypass surgery, and this is my story of having one at 56 years old.  

I wanted to share my story because I did not find a lot of information I needed when I was preparing for surgery.  

As you can imagine, I used Google a lot and the doctors kept telling me to stop Googling, because it wasn't giving me the right information. I also leaned heavily on the American Heart Association and their online support groups (Click the link to learn more - those people were a godsend!)

But much of what I found —

• was not that helpful
• was not helpful for women
• was not helpful for women in their mid 50s
• did not help provide access to things I would need for recovery
• made it seem a lot more daunting and terrifying than it ended up being.

My husband even helped me take photos along the way, so I am going to share with you photos of my incision, what I looked like coming out of surgery, etc.  Don't worry, nothing is too gross or disturbing. But I think it's important for me to try and help other people - especially women out there who might be facing this who have nowhere else to turn.  It is NOT easy to navigate getting a good post-surgical bra, for example.  I want to share everything I learned, and share my progress along the way. 

Feel free to add comments or suggestions of your own as well. I want this to be the kind of blog I wish existed before I went through this!

*I am backdating some of these posts to help them flow better in chronological order.  I didn't write them all at the same time but I think it will be more helpful for people if I order them better. Just FYI.