trip bypass surg.post op pain

[sshyann]

MY HUSBAND JUST HAD A TRIP BY PASS SEP. 8TH POST OP WAS GOING REALLY WELL , {BETTER THEN I THOUGHT IT WOULD } HE WAS RELEASED FROM HOSPITAL AFTER 7 DAYS   WITH A NEW ATTITUDE AND POSITIVE  OUTLOOK ON LIFE HES DOING GOOD EXCEPT THE CHEST PAIN FROM SURGERY ITS SELF  THERE IS NO COMFORT AND IVE ALSO NOTICED HIS BLOOD SUGAR HAS NOT BEEN EASILY CONTROLLED  .I AM  NOT GETTING ANY THING USEFUL FROM ANY OF HIS DR. s  AND WITH  ALL OTHER HEALTH PROB I JUST DON'T KNOW HOW I CAN HELP HIM???
DIABETIC , DIALYSIS 3 X WK FOR RENAL FAILURE HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE

[Flycaster305]

It sounds like your husband has a lot of other health issues that could complicate the healing process.  Diabetics, I know from personal experience, don't heal as fast as non-diabetics, but I'm sure you know this.  Also, diabetic instability is very, very common after bypass surgery.

Is your husband overweight?  That could compound movement problems.  
Hospitals generally are pretty proactive to situations where there is a lot of pain involved.  I'd start with the head of nursing of the hospital and see where that leads.

In my case, I had very little pain from the surgical location, much less than anticipated.  I used Advil as a pain medication after I was home.  Talking to other open-heart surgery patients, I've come to the conclusion that one factor is how well the chest walls were wired shut.  It would seem that could and should be checked.  Also, there is always the chance of infection causing pain.  I'd strongly suggest blood tests for that possibility.  My drain tube sites were more painful than the incision site.

I found going to cardiac rehab a wonderful experience as the cardiac nurses in my experience are very pro-active, as they pick up on problems quickly and are like ferrets when they want the doctors to pay attention to a particular situation.

I'm of the opinion that healing is dramatically slowed in the presence of pain and stress.  Your husband's body is already stressed with diabetes and kidney issues.  I'd start with the head of nursing at the hospital and also start re-hab asap.

[ed34]

I really sympathise with your position and I personally know what that discomfort feels like. I remember waking up from surgery thinking "oh my God, what have I let them do, this is unbearable". It sounds like your husband is like me, full of will power. I was the first person of that days surgeries to get up out of bed and start walking around the hospital, dragging my drainage containers with me. Within 5 days I was at home. After three weeks my appetite was still zero, but I made sure I drank lots of fluids. I then decided that it was probably the pain meds destroying my appetite so I stopped the Tramadol and switched to regular Paracetamol. To my great surprise, these worked better and I started to eat like a horse. After 3 months, the discomfort started to reduce and I started cardiac rehab. They had me doing all kinds of exercises to loosen the chest but I have to be honest and say they made me feel much much worse. I would wake up in the morning and my chest would be as stiff as an iron rod, and much more painful with it. I quit rehab after a week and decided to let nature heal me. It was a very slow progress, it took one year exactly for all the pain to go, and suddenly I had no restrictions with movement. Up until that point I also had all kinds of weird sensations in my chest, like cold fluid running down the inside, hot, pain tingles, itching etc. They all stopped after about 6-7 months. I also had an annoying numb area, above and to the side of the incision. I could touch the area and feel nothing. I was told it would stay like that, but after 1 year the feeling all returned. There are times you wonder if any more improvement will be made, but it does.
The best exercise I found that helped was deep breathing. You take a breath as deep as you feel you can, then suck in a bit more air. You hold your breath for about 10-20 seconds, then slowly exhale. Repeat this 3-5 times every few hours. This makes breathing feel more natural and easier. Until I did those exercises, I was taking short/sharp breaths because of trying to avoid the discomfort. The other key thing is no twisting the upper body. This really makes things feel worse. Arm position is also important, never put your arms behind you and push yourself up and don't raise your arms above your head. If I needed to cough, I would hug a cushion tightly into my chest. I know what you mean about the Doctors, this is because they have no personal experience of the trauma. I read a report where a cardiologist had to undergo the trauma of bypass surgery and he wrote "my goodness, if I knew it felt this bad, I would have been very different to my patients". He also noticed a lot of depression, which affect the majority of patients. I really feel for your husband, this brings back a lot of memories. I found that sitting in a chair became painful after a short period of time, so I spent most of the first three weeks laying on a soft bed, at a 20-30 degree angle. I found this the most comfortable position. Exercise comes with having to use the bathroom. Please give him my regards and tell him I am thinking of him and please keep us informed with his progress. Things will improve but time will seem to move slowly.