Home Time!

So, fluid around the heart after my initial operation. Apparently this is ‘usual’ in patients who have heart surgery. You can also get fluid in the lungs too which can also be drained. For the fluid around the heart I was put under general anaesthetic again because they take a needle and insert it towards your heart to drain the fluid. Not something you want done whilst you are awake! I woke from the operation just as they were moving me off the operating table and boy was I in a lot of pain. But I kept reminding myself it was nothing compared to having your heart cut open. This seemed to clear up my coughing and I felt a bit better.

So finally, could I go home? No. I had an infection – E. coli. I go into hospital to get one thing fixed and I pick up a damn infection! It was at this point I stopped setting myself goal posts on when I would be going home because it just ended up disappointing me when it didn’t happen. My family were great and continued to come every morning and evening to bring me food and keep me company. I do wonder that if I had the operation when I was much older like most patients, would I have coped as well?

The days went on and they gave me antibiotics to tackle the infection and after a grand total of 2 and half weeks, I was finally released! I had planned on being in there for 5/6 days but in the end, what’s another week or so? I left a card for all the nurses and health care assistants – they really do such a great job and get paid so little for the long shifts they do. Don’t ever be rude to them if you’re in hospital yourself! They keep the whole place ticking.

On a different point, the experience has told me not to apply for a health care assistant job in the mental health field. I really could not handle the long shifts and I think the things they have to put up with are very difficult. I totally respect anyone who has gone down that route for psychology though because in a way it is good hands on experience.

The moment you step outside the hospital you feel better. The fresh air, seeing everyone on the buses going to various places. It all helps. Luckily I didn’t have to go on public transport because that would have been difficult – can you imagine just being released after open heart surgery and going on the London Underground at rush hour?!

Finally Putting My Degree to Use

I haven’t really spoken a great deal about my personal life, so let’s change that. Also, this post is also related to valve replacement, so fear not if you were just after information regarding that! Currently I’m a Research Assistant in the area of psychology, investigating the role of music chronic pain. I’ve always had a strong interest in the area of pain and music, so two years ago at university it was an area I was reading up on. Now one piece of research I did come across concerned patients who had just had open heart surgery. The researchers found that patients who listened to sedative music after their procedure had 70% less pain distress compared to patients who received standard chair rest. Of course when I came upon this research I had no idea that I would be in a position to see how this worked on myself! I was always under the impression my operation would be minor - through my veins in my arm. Obviously I was naive and did not understand my condition fully.

So, the geek in me is now quite interested in running a little pseudo-experiment whilst in hospital to see if and how the music can help me. Part of me doubts the impact it could have. But considering that I’m currently asking clients who suffer from chronic pain to exercise with music, I strangely think that I have some sort of obligation to at least try. What’s the worst that could happen, right?!

On another simple note, for those of you reading this in preparation for your own operation I’ll answer a few simple questions that I myself had:

• Gowns are provided by the hospital. Imagine if hospitals didn’t do this? I’m pretty sure there would be cliques forming over the type of gowns people wore!
  
• Operations usually take place in the mornings, possibly even before 9am. Make sure you find out if your surgeon has been in an all nighter. Do you really want him going in your heart with a lack of sleep? And this is not a silly concern because it does happen and operations are cancelled because of it.
  
• Be prepared to be tossed around the surgery calendar at short notice. Nothing is confirmed until the day you turn up at the hospital and you know you have a bed.

Look at that, I haven’t even had my operation and I’m becoming an expert already. Go me!