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.