Today is Two Weeks After Surgery!

Two Mondays ago I was waking up from by-pass surgery. Again, as a review, here was the time table:

Monday, December 13, 2010 5 AM at Lancaster General
Monday, December 13, 2010 8 AM Surgery begins
Monday, December 13, 2010 - afternoon, wake up from surgery
Monday, December 13, 2010 - spent night in ICU
Tuesday, December 14, 2010 - spent day & night in ICU - got up & walked around!
Wednesday, December 15, 2010 - moved to 5 East at LGH - private room
Thursday, December 16, 2010 - moved to 5 East at LGH - private room
Friday, December 17, 2010 - HOME! - That was 4 1/2 days in the hospital
Saturday, December 18 - Monday, December 27 recovering at home - 9 1/2 days

As I related earlier, I was very pleased with my stay at Lancaster General, from the surgeons, to the nurses, to the food services & all other employees I would give them a grade of A! For those 4 1/2 days I was always a beeper away from help & the help was always friendly & helpful!

At home the visiting nurses was a great concept(especially with cold & windy days of December!) Today my results were:
Blood Pressure - 110/74
Pulse - 72
Temperature - 96.3

The visiting nurses checked my incisions & medical questions. There were also very professional & friendly each visit.

If I had to list my concerns, it would be:

1 - medications & their effect on me. The Percocet(pain medicine) was the most troublesome. It worked well for pain, but constipation, anxiousness, & sleeping issues seemed to be a hassle. With the nurses advice I switched to extra-strength tylenol after a week on Percocet.

2 - Sleeping - one problem is just me. I need to sleep on my back, but I am a restless sleeper. So, after an hour I normally would turn - well cannot do this now. Therefore, I am averaging 3-4 hours of sleep a night. This will be a question I will ask my surgeon on Wednesday this week.

3 - Leg numbness & burning sensation. My artery from my leg, from the knee to my upper thigh gives me the most problems. It really is not to bad, but you know it is there. The numbness is around the shin area. This will be another question for my surgeon.

Found this great site from the Cleveland Clinic:
http://my.clevelandclinic.org/heart/disorders/recovery_ohs.aspx

The Cleveland Clinic has been rated as the top or one of the top heart care facilities in the country! Have a look.