My husband completed his heart catheterization and 12 weeks of cardiac rehab afterwards. His nurses were so glad to see him graduate! He was such a pain to them LOL! A good pain! He graduated from the cardiac rehab program in Nov 2011.
At the beginning of Dec 2011, he began to experience a chest pain that reminded him of the pain from Aug 2011 (which was a 90% widow-maker blockage.....meaning: blockage at the top of the heart that allowed only 5 min of response time to get help before he would die). This chest pain was described as a pain that was high up in his chest and made him feel like he was going to vomit. He usually experienced this after going up the stairs.
Since my husband already had a cardiologist following his progress, we returned immediately to him on Dec 8, 2011. He wanted to immediately hospitalize him, but my husband is a busybody and wanted to spend time with his young sons instead. He was admitted for his second heart catheterization on Dec 12, 2011. Guess what they found? Yep, the same 90% widow-maker blockage! The stent had failed. We had a choice of stenting the stent or single bypass using the mammary vessel near the heart. I spent the entire weekend researching this before he ever had the heart cath. There was no real evidence showing that stenting a stent was 100% successful. The alternative of a single bypass terrified me based on his response to the stent in August. He had had a severe vasovagal episode that involved Atropine to revive him! My husband and I had made a joint decision BEFORE he underwent the heart cath. I was/am his voice when he is under any anesthesia or medication. I speak FOR him when he can not do so. We agreed that he would have the single heart bypass in order to extend the years that he could spend with our children and me.
Dec 13, 2011.....We were in the Open Heart Unit waiting for his heart surgeon.....waiting......waiting......waiting.....finally told at 2p that he would be having surgery, but his surgeon would be a different surgeon. It started around 2-3p and I was finally called around 5p. Since I had researched online, my FIRST question was, "Was his heart on or off of the machine?" The complications are very different for each. His heart was ON machine for 14 minutes. This means that the surgeon had stopped my husband's heart. That devastates me at the thought. The heart and lungs were "controlled" by a machine during this time. This makes it easier for the surgeon to do the bypass with the heart being STILL. What was very odd to me was this RUSH that I had in the waiting area. I was relaxed (as much as I could be) and suddenly....there were all of these moments, literally, RUSHING through my head! These were the happiest moments of our lives! The odd part is that they didn't feel like "my" thoughts. I honestly believe to this day that they were my husband's thoughts while his heart was still! I got extremely nervous after that, but then I got the call saying that he was in the Critical Care Unit. Ahhh finally! I can't begin to tell you how relieved I was! However, nothing could've prepared me for seeing my husband covered in tubes and a machine still breathing for him. I kept brushing my fingers through his hair, touching his hand, rubbing his cheeks, talking to him, etc. I kept trying to get him to wake up enough or get mad enough to start breathing on his own. I wanted to be there when he woke up so that he would not panic from the breathing tube.
I was told at 6p that they would be closing Critical Care to the families while the nurses changed shifts until 8p. I drove an hour back to our house (through dark mountain roads) to eat, bathe, check on the children (and my oldest that is 20 yrs old and now raising them in my absence), etc. I called the CCU at 10p to check on him. I informed them that I was about to leave my house and explained the long drive. I was told that I was not allowed back in once I had left the hospital until....9a! Good information to have had! Of course, he woke up WITHOUT ME THERE! I still feel guilty from leaving the hospital. That was a stupid rule. They should welcome family for the recovery of their patients at any time! I understand the shift change....just not the rest.
Was the breathing tube the worst part? Ummm NO. He had 3 chest tubes that eventually had to be removed. His RN removed those approx 2 days after the surgery. She warned me that I might have to scrape him off of the ceiling. Here is a big, strong, outdoorsy guy that I can't picture EVER being in pain.....yea right! This little woman practically (not really) put her foot on him and grabbed all 3 chest tubes and YANKED them out of him.......these 1" diameter garden hose looking tubes! All at ONE TIME! I had him holding my hand and he dug those "man" nails down into my hand OMG I just let him dig right in and he actually scarred it! I kept letting him dig in. I can't imagine the pain he felt! She had given him morphine 15 min prior, too!
