Home after London theatre break for CABG

[Charlie0007]

Home its good to get here. After i had the discharge changed a couple of time, once because my heart rate went upto 130-150 for 48hours, i could hardly breath, couldnt put 2 words together without breathing, they eventually did a chest drain and took 1.5ltr out, the heart rate came down to araound 100 and a cardioversion was now not needed. The difference was huge in just a couple of hours i was breathing, talking and able to walk up and down the corridor on my own, it put me on a real high, part of the roller coaster ride our health takes us through.

The most stressful part was the discharge process, talk about left hand and right hand and there no parking at the hospital so i was trying co-ordinate, our lift via mobile phone, while keep nagging staff to get things sorted, but then had to ring ward back up to check on medication as it was clearly marked with directions party because the nurse was short of time as my lift had arrived. In the end i did get out, very tired and stressed and later trying to get out of London than one would want so traffic was busy, the mass exodus had started.

First night home struggled to sleep, get comfortable find nthe best way to get in and out of bed ended up sleeping in the chair. But that first proper shower was great and feeel better for it. concidering what i have had done, looking at the scares and know what they have cut through etc i feel quite good really better than i thought i would, i expected more bruising in the chest area but all in all a successful London theatre break, it may have not been much fun but is a life transforming and extending one and there is a lot to be said for that.

Many thanks to you all for being with me on my journey, but most of all i am thankful my wife could be with me she kept me going when the going got tough.

Love and Blessings to you all

Charlie

[MichaelJH Heart Star]

Glad to hear that it is starting to go well although it sounds like you were in the wars for a bit.

Yes discharge can be strange to put it politely. I spent 10 days in a London hospital after an accident a decade ago. The discharge plans kept changing and then one morning straight after breakfast a nurse was told to get me ready and take me to the discharge lounge in a wheelchair and not using my crutches to avoid any risk of a fall. As I was unable to contact anyone at that time the discharge team made a few calls and arranged for a large saloon car to take me back to Hertfordshire FOC.

[dagger1947]

Hi Charlie,

Sounds like you had a rough ride mate. Must of felt scary when you were having difficulty breathing. I only experienced it once but that was only for 1 minute when I was back at home.

The main thing is your home now and will recover alot quicker because of it.

Everyday you will get that little bit more stronger. I'm into my 5th week now and its only really my sternum thats causing me a bit of pain but nothing compared to just after the op.

Glad to hear you got through it. Onwards and upwards now!

Cheers

Nick

[Fredders]

Hi Charlie

Really pleased to hear your home and on the road to recovery. I know exactly what you mean regarding discharge. I was told in the morning that I was going home but it took until about 4pm before I escaped hospital - straight into Friday traffic jams!

I am now a month on from my AVR. The bruising started coming out in my ribs/sternum about a week ago but is now easing and I had to stop taking gabapentin, which they put me on for nerve pain, as it made me breathless and gave me a dry cough, now feeling much better.

The bad part is that daytime television is absolutely rubbish and as I have a non-existent attention span there is no point trying to watch a film, as I either fall asleep or can't keep track of what is going on! The joys of general anaesthetic!

Hope your recovery continues to go well.

Wendy