I think it is a little strange that a nurse would hand you a booklet titled "What You Need To Know About Heart Surgery" even before a doctor (or anyone) talks to you about it.

Here are a few quotes from the booklet:



First thing that caught my eye--"Body weight--This is the weight that the doctors will try to return you to in case you gained water weight during surgery." Are they kidding?? That's enough for me NOT to have the operation--gain weight?? Tell me I'll lose weight!

Now this sounds like fun--"Endotracheal Tube--this tube will go through your mouth into your windpipe to help you breathe during and after surgery. You may have this breathing tube in several hours until you are fully awake.
While the tube is in your hands may be lightly restrained and you cannot talk. However you can nod yes or no to questions and scribble notes to the staff on a pad by your hand." (My lightly retrained hands???"

"Among equipment that you may be attached to are" Arterial Line (placed in the wrist), Swan Ganz Catheter (inserted in vein in neck), Other IV lines (to receive fluids and medications), Foley Catheter (placed in your bladder), heart monitor, chest tubes (which are removed in approximately 1-2 days so you can start moving around)"

"After your surgery, it may take 30 minutes or longer from the time you arrive in the Intensive Care Unit before your family can see you." (This should be interesting as I have no family here and since neither Allen or Gino are my 'domestic partner' I wonder how much of a fight I will have on my hands for them to be treated like family?!)

"It is important that you learn to ask for your pain pills when you start to hurt." (I'll be asking for them from the minute I walk into the hospital!)

"You will wake up with a bandage on your breastbone. The bandage covers an incision that was made down the center of your breastbone so that the surgeon could work on your heart."

"Your doctors will prescribe many kinds of medicine fore to take such as pain medicine, sleeping medicine, heart pills, water pills, etc. (Sure, I go to the hospital and become a junkie. Why don't they just give me the sleeping pills on the first day and wake me up a week later?!)

"Your doctor will order several types of breathing therapies after surgery such as Oxygen mask or Nasal Cannula, Twin Jet Nebulizer treatments, Metered Dose Inhaler treatments, Incentive Spirometer."

"Coughing--you will be encouraged to cough deeply and frequently. Coughing will help you get up any mucus. Your nurses will teach you how to 'splint' your chest when you cough."

"When your family first sees you they can expect to see and hear the following:
Several intravenous lines connected to you
A respirator machine connected to your breathing tubes making hissing and beeping sounds
A cardiac monitor recording your heart beat--this makes a beeping sound
Two bags hanging on the side of your bed: one drains any blood or fluid from your chest and the other drains urine."

Why do I feel that I will look like one of the characters AJ reads about in his books??? Or the Frankenstein monster??
Ummm--wonder if they will let Allen and/or Gino take pictures of me in the ICU so I can post them here???

I do like this line, "After surgery you will go to a special room where you will have specially trained nurses to care for all your needs." ALL MY NEEDS?????

No where in the booklet does it say when I will be able to eat again--have to put that on my list of questions for the doctor--I am talking about REAL food!!