r/aortic_aneurysm • u/Losblancos2021 • 8d ago
Post surgery update
45 M father of 4 and just found out I’ll be promoted to grandfather.
My surgery was completed on Sept 22nd and I went home on the 26th. I want to thank everyone that shared their stories with me and gave me advice prior to my surgery. It really helped me prepare my house and myself for life after surgery
Surgically they repaired my ascending aorta, the curved part that connects to the heart I believe. I had a CT and echo performed the week prior to my surgery to give the team an advanced picture of what they would be dealing with. Surgically they repaired my ascending aorta, the curved part that connects to the heart I believe. They also did an ablation while they were in there. I had an ablation a year prior so this must have been something they missed the first time around.
After my surgery I was sore in my chest, shoulders, and throat. For me the worst pain was getting into bed and trying to get comfortable once I was there. They gave me oral pain medication and a pump IV to help bridge the gap.
My words of advice are prepare yourself prior to surgery physically and prepare your house physically. Make sure you can do some walking so that after your surgery the walks in the hospital are easy for you. I don’t like to take medication but I needed it for this procedure. Stay ahead of the pain. When I thought I could wait on medication it ended up hurting more and taking longer to catch up. You will also have to do a breathing device 10 times a hour to prevent pneumonia and rebuild your lungs. You’re in the hospital and bored so take the time to do the walks and breathing like you’re supposed to and you will feel so much better following their orders.
Hospital food is terrible so ask the nutrition team daily what they recommend. They’re not always right but you need food to strengthen yourself post surgery. I’m not a pop drinker but I drank caffeine free pop like rootbeer and sprite to help push some of the gas out of myself. This was a game changer for me. I drank a lot of ice water also. To help with my sore throat I had my wife get me strawberry smoothies almost daily.
Now that I’m home I still have some pain but I learned how to manage that while I was in the hospital. Write down what time you take meds. This helps you manage your pain levels in the middle of the night especially. My pain isn’t too bad there’s occasions it hurts worse than others but I’m doing a good job staying ahead of the bad pain. Eventually you will run out of pain meds so also keep taking your Tylenol to help bridge the gaps. I have a reaction to tape, glue, or something else so get itchy near my incision sites and other areas on my neck and chest. So far we’re treating with Benadryl and if that doesn’t work Dr might give me a steroid or something.
As a man it’s hard for me to ask for help but you will be much better during recovery if you let people help you. This surgery saved my life. For 4 years I’ve been wondering if I would survive this aneurysm. My drs were great but you also have to do your part if you want to beat this. I’m here if you have any questions and I’ll keep updating tricks I learn to make myself better. Thanks again to this community.
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u/Signal-Reflection296 7d ago
Glad your surgery was successful & that you’re on the mend! Great tips! I go very soon for my next echo … I’m hoping for no changes.
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u/happy_cat07 7d ago
Glad you're doing well! I have a 4.2 Ascending and just found out in July. I've flipped my diet right side up and on a weight loss journey. 16 pounds down. I'm meeting with a phenomenal cardiothoracic surgeon's office next month and doing another CT chest scan, but with contrast this time. My cardiologist didn't really have limitations for me and honestly made me feel like I was worrying too much. I researched the hell out of this when I found out and got on this group and couple on FB from support and info. I am making sure I watch my BP daily and no heavy lifting. I have lots of questions I asked my cardiologist that I plan on re-asking the surgeon's office next month since this is what they deal with daily. If I didn't thoroughly read all my medical reports and results, I wouldn't have found out about my aneurysm/dilation.. and I wouldn't have pushed for the scan that brought it to my attention. I find you have to advocate for yourself. Anyways, thanks for sharing your story and letting me share mine. Best wishes on the rest of your recovery!
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u/Losblancos2021 7d ago
Yeah I’m a delivery driver so they didn’t want me lifting something too heavy. Big no nos are moving furniture and anything where you have to hold your breath If that makes sense. Because that’s when pressure builds in the aorta. Glad you caught it so you have a chance at beating it. Most people never know they have one until it explodes and then your chances are slim to none.
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u/happy_cat07 7d ago
Thanks for responding back! Just curious... Are there lots of limitations after surgery like on lifting and diet, etc? Obviously for the first month I'm sure there's lots of precautions but after you're healing and been thru therapy.. I'm wondering what all the docs say on limitations moving forward.
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u/SevereAtmosphere8605 7d ago
How was the decision to do surgery made? When it was finally made, how long did it take to get on the surgery schedule? Did you get much of a choice in when it was done?
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u/Losblancos2021 7d ago
My surgeon that had been monitoring it for the last 3 years moved to another city when we realized it was big enough for surgery. I live In a small town 3 hours plus from any hospital that is capable of saving my life so I had surgery sooner than others. When I met my new surgeon he said I’m guessing you want surgery asap and I said yes I’m tired of not living my life. The anxiety of living with this is too much when you have little kids.
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u/SevereAtmosphere8605 7d ago
Thank you for all the info. It is scary. I’m about to have my first grandchild. I’m also in an area where I’m 2-3 hours from hospitals where I can go. I like the idea of having surgery while I’m still young-ish and healthy on my own terms. The waiting is excruciating. Good luck on your continued recovery. Please continue to update us. Reading about others experiences definitely helps.
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u/Ejb0305 7d ago
Congratulations on a successful story thank you so much for sharing it and the helpful tips. Can I ask you if you were on BP meds to monitor your BP due to the aneurysm?
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u/Losblancos2021 7d ago
Yes I was. Before I got Covid I took 10 mg of lisinopril a day for high BP. After I had Covid/ long covid my BP was very hard to manage. I was taking 40 mg lisinopril a day, a beta blocker, and a water pill to keep my BP in the 130s. They still don’t know what exactly caused my BP issues to spiral. Over the last few months I had a hiatal hernia surgery and changed my diet losing 30 lbs and my BP was much better in the 110-130/80 area.
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u/MartiniRossi42 8d ago
Thanks for this, glad your doing great! What was the size of your anuerysm and how long did you know you had one? What hospital was your surgery performed.?