Who here has ever had major surgery?

[Relic]

Just curious as to who here has ever had major surgery of any sort and how as the recovery?

I'm in the process of recovering from open heart surgery, crazy stuff. I had been born with a minor heart defect that had been getting progressively worse as I got older. My doc basically laid it out that if I didn't finally go and get it repaired I'd eventually go belly up from heart failure.
It was supposed to be this minimally invasive procedure, in and out of the hospital in a couple of days, back to work in a week.. yeah right. They ended up having to stop my heart, saw through my sternum, split me open and carve my heart up like a Thanksgiving turkey.
It's been 6 weeks and I'm already starting to jog, exercise and even gig again, the recovery has been remarkably fast. All I need now is some sort of creative tattoo to cover up the scar on my chest... hmm
Anyone care to share their Op/Post-op stories?

[Vandelay]

I think you'll enjoy this recent thread from moderator Ívar Þórólfsson:

One year since my surgery - Success story!

[LarryO]

My worst operative experience is when I had to dislocate the hip of an elderly woman so that the femoral neck could be cut to fit the prosthesis. incision was made, knee bent, hip abducted, femoral head poped out and onto the floor, my knees got weak and a few OR staff members had a laugh at my expense.

As far as my own surgical recoveries all I can say is vicodin is a pretty good diet pill

[tplyons]

I had a heller myotomy and partial fundoplication due to a disorder called esophogeal achalasia in which the lower esophogeal sphincter is unable to relax in order to allow food to pass. The surgery was done laparoscopically and I was out of the hospital in a day and a half.

I came to after the surgery, and the first person I saw was my mom. Mind you, nobody told me ahead of time anything about a catheter being put in. So when I became conscious and aware of my state and surroundings, I rolled over to my mom and said "I think there's something coming out of my d***." It's been four years and we still laugh about that.

Other than that, my stay in the children's hospital (I was 17 at the time) was fun. I recovered rather quickly and spent my time walking around making friends. I hung out with a bunch of cool kids recovering, played a bunch of video games, and walking around with my ass hanging out of my robe and nurses following to try to keep me covered. I waved them off touting "I'm friendly!"

[Relic]

Originally Posted by Vandelay

I think you'll enjoy this recent thread from moderator Ívar Þórólfsson:

One year since my surgery - Success story!

Vandelay, thanks! I hadn't seen this. My surgery was pretty much for the same thing as Ívar's.

[Relic]

Originally Posted by LarryO

My worst operative experience is when I had to dislocate the hip of an elderly woman so that the femoral neck could be cut to fit the prosthesis. incision was made, knee bent, hip abducted, femoral head poped out and onto the floor, my knees got weak and a few OR staff members had a laugh at my expense.

As far as my own surgical recoveries all I can say is vicodin is a pretty good diet pill

[thinks aloud..please God, no one type the standard "this thread is useless without pics" thing..]

[MAJOR METAL]

My arm was nearly severed from my body and it had to be repaired. I should be dead.

[Vince S.]

Originally Posted by Relic

Just curious as to who here has ever had major surgery of any sort and how as the recovery?

I'm in the process of recovering from open heart surgery, crazy stuff. I had been born with a minor heart defect that had been getting progressively worse as I got older. My doc basically laid it out that if I didn't finally go and get it repaired I'd eventually go belly up from heart failure.
It was supposed to be this minimally invasive procedure, in and out of the hospital in a couple of days, back to work in a week.. yeah right. They ended up having to stop my heart, saw through my sternum, split me open and carve my heart up like a Thanksgiving turkey.
It's been 6 weeks and I'm already starting to jog, exercise and even gig again, the recovery has been remarkably fast. All I need now is some sort of creative tattoo to cover up the scar on my chest... hmm
Anyone care to share their Op/Post-op stories?

Out of curiosity, what kind of heart problem was it? I have mitral regurgitation where my mitral valve doesn't close up properly, allowing some of the blood to backwash. My doc has me on a watch-and-wait program right now but I may need surgery for it in the future.

[Vandelay]

Originally Posted by Vince S.

Out of curiosity, what kind of heart problem was it? I have mitral regurgitation where my mitral valve doesn't close up properly, allowing some of the blood to backwash. My doc has me on a watch-and-wait program right now but I may need surgery for it in the future.

My sister had mitral valve repair surgery done just over a year ago, at age 49. She wasn't feeling any symptoms, it was just discovered during a routine checkup. She chose to take care of it while she's still in good health. Obviously it's a major surgery that requires several weeks of stay-at-home recovery time, and the first week of her recovery had a couple of scary moments, but since then she's been just great. She works out at the gym nearly every day. The repair was completely successful and they told her that it's unlikely she'll ever need another repair.

[Relic]

Originally Posted by Vince S.

Out of curiosity, what kind of heart problem was it? I have mitral regurgitation where my mitral valve doesn't close up properly, allowing some of the blood to backwash. My doc has me on a watch-and-wait program right now but I may need surgery for it in the future.

Vince, that's exactly what mine was. Mitral valve prolapse with severe regurgitation. Mine ended up being a valve repair, rather than replacement which made it a little easier. (no long term meds to take in my case) While I have to say that the surgery was no picnic, it was also nowhere near as bad as I thought it would have been. It was in the hospital for about a week, out of work for 3 more. Hopefully you wont ever need surgery, but if you do, it works and works well - go for it.
My prolapse is virtually gone. For once in my life I have a normal heartbeat with no skipped beats or shortness of breath and so on.
PM me if you have any questions

[troy2003]

I had a retinal reattachment surgery-4 times.(didnt work).The first 3 times hurt like a b#$%%.4th time I got a differant anestheologist,I asked why it hurts so bad.He said "do they check to see if they blocked it properly"? Nope--he did.I still want to strangle the other guy and it has been 10 years.

[Ívar Þórólfsson]

Originally Posted by Relic

Just curious as to who here has ever had major surgery of any sort and how as the recovery?

I'm in the process of recovering from open heart surgery, crazy stuff. I had been born with a minor heart defect that had been getting progressively worse as I got older. My doc basically laid it out that if I didn't finally go and get it repaired I'd eventually go belly up from heart failure.
It was supposed to be this minimally invasive procedure, in and out of the hospital in a couple of days, back to work in a week.. yeah right. They ended up having to stop my heart, saw through my sternum, split me open and carve my heart up like a Thanksgiving turkey.
It's been 6 weeks and I'm already starting to jog, exercise and even gig again, the recovery has been remarkably fast. All I need now is some sort of creative tattoo to cover up the scar on my chest... hmm
Anyone care to share their Op/Post-op stories?

Hey there!

I saw that Vandelay posted my thread

I'm glad your surgery went well, even though they had to split you open. Fun stuff, fun stuff indeed! I had the same surgery, it was the mitral valve that had to be repaired in my case.

How was your stamina after the surgery? Mine was completely wiped out and it took up to a year to get it completely back.

They only thing that I'm not happy about with my surgery is that I had coaxed the surgeon into taking some pictures and/or video during the surgery (they often do that) because I wanted to see the surgery but he didn't take any pictures

What helped me tremendously was to have physical goals and actively traink and work to achieve them. Although it is important to train, it is even more importan to listen to your body and rest when you need to.

Good luck with your recovery!

[casualmadness]

Originally Posted by LarryO

vicodin is a pretty good diet pill

yessssssiiiiirrrrr....I'm riding the vicodin train at the moment thanks to a couple of ingrown toenails getting sliced out. Peronally, I don't think vicodin was a proper prescription for such a procedure, as I've had much more serious surgical procedures that didn't get such strong prescriptions. But hey....doctors orders. WHo am I to argue?

As far as surgeries go; I've had several minor ones. And one that shoud have been minor but got major very quickly. I went in for a right inguannal hernia. Doctor screwed up by cutting some nerves that shouldn't have been cut...yadda yadda yadda...I have permanent numbness in the right side of my groin. I never realized how much of your groin muscle is used for simple things like walking. But since everything in that side is dead now, I had to re-learn to do some stuff.
As for the doctor, no I didn't sue...why?!! you ask...because I was in the military and he was a military doctor. At the time, active duty military doctors could not be sued by members of the military. However, I heard that they are no longer protected against lawsuits.
I confronted the doctor, post surgery. He pulled rank and told me more or less to deal with it because there was nothing that I could do about it. I seriously considered pounding him into the floor. But then I considered the dishonorable discharge and the prison time and decided that it wasn't worth it.
Anyone in the military, if you need surgery, go off post and find a real doctor.

[BlacksHole]

I've had 20+ inches of my colon removed due to Crohn's disease. My recovery took a while since I was also without food for about 5 months with the whole flare (feeding tube). This left me pretty weak and thin.

[mjolnir]

Well, I can't say I've ever had surgery nearly as serious as the OP. I'm glad to hear you got everything fixed up and you're recovering well.

The only time I've ever gone in for surgery was to rebuild my mangled foot so I could actually walk like a human being again. The only thing I really remember about that was there was a tube down my leg that was dripping some sort of anesthetic onto my sciatic nerve, and in my incredibly drugged state I had to try really hard to restrain myself enough to not mess with it.

[Relic]

hey Ívar

Just before my surgery it was still not clear if it was to be a mitral valve replacement or a repair. In the end they were able to repair it but it took a bit of work to do so apparently. In addition to reshaping the valve flap itself, they had to implant some sort of ring in the heart to make the valve seal properly. In retrospect I'm glad they took the extra time. I would have had a metal replacement valve otherwise, which likely would have worked brilliantly but would have left me having to take anti-coagulents for life afterwards.

My stamina is a bit off but getting better weekly, I'm amazed by it. Last night, I had a 2 1/2 hour practice, no breaks and was fine! Last week, I was tired after about an hour.
Looking at my calendar, it's actually been 7 weeks since surgery as of this morning.

How does your scar look at this point?

Originally Posted by Ívar Þórólfsson

Hey there!

I saw that Vandelay posted my thread

I'm glad your surgery went well, even though they had to split you open. Fun stuff, fun stuff indeed! I had the same surgery, it was the mitral valve that had to be repaired in my case.

How was your stamina after the surgery? Mine was completely wiped out and it took up to a year to get it completely back.

[Ívar Þórólfsson]

Cool!

Sounds like you are doing well!

They were also able to repair my mitral valve, did not need a ring like you got. I am also very happy to not have gotten a metal replacement. A met a guy in the hospital who got a metal valve and he said that when everything is quiet around him, he can hear the valve opening and closing... low metal clack noise....

My scar is pretty good, it was bright red for the longest time, but it has faded a bit now but it will never be flesh colored. Frankly, I don't mind... I've had people stare at me in the swimming pools but that is just their problem My uber manly chest hair helps conceal it a bit though.

The only thing that bothers me from time to time is the wire that was used to hold the sternum together. I have three small but visible bumps running down my scar, the wire that is, and sometimes the area around it gets a bit tender. Also it is not very comfortable to get hit on those places

Originally Posted by Relic

hey Ívar

Just before my surgery it was still not clear if it was to be a mitral valve replacement or a repair. In the end they were able to repair it but it took a bit of work to do so apparently. In addition to reshaping the valve flap itself, they had to implant some sort of ring in the heart to make the valve seal properly. In retrospect I'm glad they took the extra time. I would have had a metal replacement valve otherwise, which likely would have worked brilliantly but would have left me having to take anti-coagulents for life afterwards.

My stamina is a bit off but getting better weekly, I'm amazed by it. Last night, I had a 2 1/2 hour practice, no breaks and was fine! Last week, I was tired after about an hour.
Looking at my calendar, it's actually been 7 weeks since surgery as of this morning.

How does your scar look at this point?

[LowBSix]

1986, I was diangosed with Testicular Cancer. About one month following an Orchiectomy, I had a Retroperatenial Lymp Node Dissection due to a Terra Toma Tumor. The scar from the Lymph Node Dissection begins on my back just above my right kidney, down to my right waiste, around towards my naval and then a straight drop down to about an inch above my pubic bone.

I have read the "op report" where it clearly states that they explored all of my lymph nodes down in to my thighs and up in to the chest cavity as far up as around my neck seeking enlarged supicious nodes where the cancer may have spread. The weirdest thing was reading that all of my major organs were "removed and placed on tressels" so they could explore the lymph nodes around them too!

They used a rib splitter to open my rib cage on the right side, which was a surprise to me; as far as the pain! I was "clear" and was 1 of 3 out of 10 surgeries not needing chemo or radiation!

I played a gig 3 weeks after the surgery, which was exhausting, but I had to do it!

I fathered 2 kids after the surgeries. My daughter is now 20 and my son is almost 18.

God is Good All The Time!

[MakiSupaStar]

I'm healthy [knocks on wood and kisses a sexy asian chick]. None so far for me.

[Relic]

LowBsix - holy cow!!! I'm glad that you beat this thing. Wow, I wonder if now for that sort of thing they could do a complete CAT scan or something of the sort?

Ívar - oh yes the wires in the sternum... I had a look at an x-ray taken about 4 weeks after my surgery. I was stunned by the way the wires had been placed!
In my mind, they had done this careful job of criss-crossing the wires, like the doctor was some sort of master basket-weaver making my sternum look just lovely.. reality was quite different. It looked like a drunken farmer had repaired an old fence in the middle of the night during a hurricane, the snipped ends of the pointy wires sticking out every which-way, they are crooked and some longer than the others.. oh well, they did the job so that's what counts