As surgery approached I did get very fearful. Not of pain this time, but rather would this fix me? I had been through so much already that I was fearful to go through all of this and find out that I had some other rare issue. Also, I had no one to talk to about this procedure besides my doctor. I felt that he was a little biased. After all wasn't I in a way his guinea pig? I was also a little timid about the bypass part. Yes, it's been performed a million plus times. But, not on me! To think that my heart was going to be stopped and my lungs deflated was so unnatural. Being in the medical field I know to much about the possibilities that could occur. Sometimes ignorance is most definitely bliss.
We arrived as per instructions at 5:30am for pre op. Then we waited and waited. It felt like a life time. I never knew when they were going to take me back. After about 2 and 1/2 hours of waiting my doctor walked in and said that most likely my implant would remain in tacked. It would be to difficult to remove it due to tissue growth that had occurred on top of the implant. I signed my final consent and then anesthesia walked in. I'm so thankful for them. The resident was about my age and I had the feeling she could read my mind. I hated going into that cold OR and being strapped down. I would feel alone and tremoring while trying to put my game face on knowing that my heart would stop shortly there after. She was a gift from GOD. She encouraged her mentor to give me a little something before I went in. I literally watched them put the Valium in and was out cold.
Apparently, the hard part about open heart or any major surgery is the waiting done by your loved ones. It took quite a few attempts and almost 2 hours to get my swan ganz line in and arterial line. Finally, surgery was started it lasted about 4 hours(6 in all). I was on bypass for 42min. My heart started naturally on it's own. No shock needed. Just a little medication to get it back in rhythm. As far as cuts go, I had a 4 inch cut in my right groin, about an 8 inch cut under my right breast, 3 half inch cuts below my armpit, a cut for the pacemaker wires/blake tube, and another half inch cut where the chest tube was.
I awoke on the ventilator(a breathing machine). My body felt it first before my eyes. My family was at my bedside. I heard my sister and husband. I was told surgery went well and I was part cow. What? These drugs are making my mind go crazy I thought. Apparently, my implant never had deployed correctly on my right side. The mesh was folded in and the nickle prongs were protruding upward. My old surgeon had to be called in to help with the removal. In it's place bovine(part of a cow's heart) tissue was sutured in. I was told later that open heart saved my life. The implant was causing clots to form which was a large possibility to cause a massive stroke. Also, the prongs were dangerously close to vessel puncture. After about 2 hours post op my blood pressure was unable to be stabilized. I was bleeding profusely and needed to go back to the OR. I was so weak at this point I signaled to please resedate me. Luckily, my sister was there as translator for me. Within minutes I was out!
I was taken back to the OR and reopened. Apparently a large hematoma(large formation of blood) formed under my original opening. I was lucky it was nothing more. Although, It was enough to be given 3-4 units of blood, about 40 pounds of fluid, a chest tube and internal pacer wires were placed. I was returned to the SICU. From the pictures I didn't look quite like myself. I was having trouble maintaining me blood pressure (averaged 50/40mmhg) so inturn fluid is bolused in. Due to such a low blood pressure my heart was effected. Eventually, my heart rate dropped below 30. I had a new junctional rhythm and my blood pressure was unreadable. In an effort to aid my heart it had to be artificially paced. Meaning a machine continuously shocked my heart. So, there I was on a ventilator, receiving blood, receiving fluids and being shocked wide awake. A nightmare like no other! I was given no sedation due to the fact of such a low blood pressure. I thank God for shock. I was in and out of consciousness. I awoke once more signaling to the nurse to please at least take me of the ventilator. She was hesitant, but called the respiratory therapist. I showed the respiratory therapist I could breath on my own. After another hour of a weaning attempt(a test to see if you can breath on your own) blood was drawn and I was extubated. After I was taken off the ventilator I was able to communicate and begged to stop being paced. I was shocked that they listened! Then, after about 20 min. everything seemed to improve I was one my way to recovery!
My recovery had to wait a few more hours. Apparently, I wasn't improving as fast as the staff liked. I was told that my blood pressure was still drastically low and my heart wasn't cooperating. A nurse practitioner walked in and stated that there was a large possibility that I had a grade 4 aortic tear. I knew instantly what that meant. Surgery again! She was practically in tears. If this were the case I might not make it through this surgery. I looked to my nurse for support. She held my hand and stated, "We don't know for sure Anne, hang in there." I decided not to tell my family until I had to. They had been through so much already. My story sounds crazy. How much devastating news can one family take! I had to wait 3 hours to finally hear that everything was o.k. My blood flow was just having a little trouble finding it's new pathway. Within 1-1/2 days I was placed on the step down unit. My recovery at the hospital was difficult and I could go into more detail but why? Those who know me know that I don't tolerated medications well and tend to have every side effect possible. The most difficult part was finding out what pain management worked best for me. The hardest part was the chest tube and drains. Once they were all removed it was smooth sailing. On average I was loosing 12lbs a day of fluid. I felt so relieved once all that weight was lifted. I was discharged after 7 days.
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