Hello, as a carer, I'm keen to know what it was like for you when you got home. I'd like to get an idea of what to expect for my loved one.
For example; what couldn't you do that surprised you? How did you spend your first few weeks? What do you wish someone had told you? What might you have done differently in hindsight? What did your carer do that was most useful/least helpful?
Thank you to those who previously offered advice over sleep challenges and the benefits of the V pillow. I found Dunhelm to be a good supplier too.
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James73
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Hi James73
I think the biggest downer for me at home was the thorax vest and the pressure stockings, both ,I found ,to be uncomfortable and a constant reminder of being on the ill spectrum.
The other oddity was the not using my arms for most things like raising from a seat or the bed, very strange and against everything that was normal to me.
Suddenly waking up to the fact of the proceedings my body had gone through, and the shock as my body showed me.
Add to that the complex pill taking { HOW MANY!! } and I can see that you have your hands full.
Thank God for people like you in this world, you are a star !
Thanks Blue1958, let's hope I am a star at the end of this!!! I'll look up thorax vest as I haven't heard or seen mention of that in the useful info the hospital has provided. Any tips on wearing it (or is it just do it!)
Hello We are all different in how we come to terms with has happened to us.Personal experience. I went from the Ward down in the lift and then walked up the road out of the hospital ( ARI )which is a decent incline up to the Car Park. My D in L picked me up and said what the hell are you doing !! I just said nothing else was on offer and you can't park in the Ambulance Bay so I walked and that was me on the road to recovery. I must say I am talking here about recovery from the OHS not from my Wonky Heart that is still ongoing 6 years after the bypass, due to damage to my heart muscle !!
Hi James,Coming home (in the middle of the pandemic) was a tough trip. I had some complications in hospital and wasn't able to walk much. My legs hurt badly and going up the stairs was difficult. My husband walked behind me which was very reassuring. He also brought some pillows to the hospital to put between my chest and the seat belt. Very helpful. My energy level was very low to start off with and speaking was very tiresome. I seemed to have shortened my sentences quite a bit to just communicate the necessary without the 'please' and 'thank yous'. My husband was very good at making the teas, coffees and requested meals. Fresh vegetables and fruit is not a big thing in the hospital and I was craving those.
I was not good at realising when I was tired and needed to be told to rest. The first 6 weeks was all about learning to walk again. My emotions were all over the place, from crying to being angry and frustrated and smiling again. Belly laughs were still a long way off. I am a year on now and working out again, walking for miles and starting my cycling again. Recovery was slow but steady. I can get quite impatient, but keeping notes of my recovery has helped me to realise how far I have come.
Good luck to your partner and her/his recovery and all the best to you with the care. It is a tough job and if you have any further questions, you know where to ask them.
Hello James, the first few weeks following open heart surgery are no walk in the park, but don't let that distract you or your partner from the big prize.
There will come a time, maybe after twelve weeks, maybe longer, when you suddenly wake up and realise that you can breath more deeply and exercise more intensively than you could before the operation. In other words, you're not just "recovered", you're actually far fitter and more vigorous than you were before.
I call it the "miracle moment", when you've shaken off the shackles of angina and you're sleeping more deeply and wake with far more energy. No longer do you have that feeling of being short of breath when walking or having a tightness around your chest. Following my bypass procedure I feel twenty years younger, and hopefully your partner will too!
In the meantime keep up with the breathing/huffing/coughing exercises at least five times per day, make sure you do the daily brisk walk (building up to twenty or thirty minutes after six or eight weeks), and complete your shoulder roll exercises a couple of times each day.
Hi James. I had my CABG in London at the Royal Brompton so getting home was a cab to a car then a drive home. That was uncomfortable but tolerable. I guess the biggest surprise to me was just how long it took for my appetite to return. For a couple of weeks I only ate small amounts and didn't fancy anything other than rather bland foods such as a bowl of beans. Regarding sleep, I found it easiest to doze on the couch, that way I could lay comfortably propped up. I also found anything touching my scar really uncomfortable so as much as possible I wore jogging bottoms and an open dressing gown around the house.
Hope all goes well for your partner and best of luck to both of you.
Everyone has given you good advice,but what I would add is don't Molly coddle him.I love my wife dearly but that drove me up the wall.I had to wait until she went to work before I could try things for myself.x
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