[Moderator Note]
This is a reminder that insults are not permitted in GQ. If you have a problem with a poster, either report the post or take it to the Pit. No warning issued, but don’t do this again.
Colibri
General Questions Moderator
Since the OP is basically requesting anecdotal responses, and there is little basis provided to give factual answers, this is better suited for IMHO than GQ.
This is a reminder to posters to keep this discussion civil. If you have a problem with Silverstreak Wonder’s post, take it to the Pit thread linked to in post #17.
Colibri
General Questions Moderator
You are right. Thank you. My apologies to the rest of you.
Hey, come on! How about a good update?
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I too have been checking this thread hoping for some good news for the OP.
Ditto. Praying and hoping for the best, Sara.
Updates have been pretty sparse. The family is pretty much cloistered at the hospital, but she’s still hanging in there. I really haven’t heard too much from anyone.
Today they did some sort of “heart wash” and sewed her up, but 30 minutes later she couldn’t breathe, too much fluid around the heart, and they had to open her again. Apparently, they are planning to try again to close her up on Sunday or Monday. (at which point she’ll have had an open chest for a week - minus the 30 minutes today.)
Pretty unbeliveable.
While this isn’t an open heart scenario I know someone who had 5 organs fail and came back from the brink. She lost some heart function but she is fully mobile and able to do the things she did before. This went on for many months. Don’t give up hope.
:eek:
Wow. Just wow. Good thoughts to everyone involved.
I once took care of a man who had an open chest for a couple of weeks (teaching hospital, lots of cutting edge experimental procedures went on there- at least it was cutting-edge 12 years ago or so when I was at that particular hospital) outside of the OR (plastic covering of course, so it wasn’t totally open and exposed to air). He was on BiVads, and a ventilator and a bunch of other stuff (nitric therapy if I am not mistaken) that wouldn’t mean a whole lot to you right now. He was not a CABG (bypass) patient, so the only similarity he has with your friend is the open chest. BUT he recovered enough to be closed up and sent to the floor (from ICU) and that is where I lost touch with him, but I heard he was able to go home.
While I have never seen or heard of surgery lasting as long as it did (per your original post) leaving an “open chest” is not unheard of, and I would take it as a good sign right now, in the absence of any other details.
So even though it sounds extreme (and it is) don’t let having an open chest for this long be enough to cause you to give up hope. As long as she is alive, there is a change of recovery.
I agree with the person who said that she is probably in the ICU and on a ventilator (to help her breathe) while her heart is pumping on its own. That sort of thing is very common after a bypass surgery. I can assure you that there is no way she was actually undergoing surgery for 2 days straight.
Is this someone you know in real life? The only reason I ask that is because I find it very odd that the family would get confused about if the patient was in the operating room or the ICU if they really were visiting her at the hospital while all this was going on.
If this is someone you know from the internet I would be a little suspicious that they might be messing with you by telling you a dramatic story that is not true (which would explain how they got so confused about the OR vs. ICU thing). I have heard of so many cases where people would tell their internet friends really wild stories of life or death dramas to manipulate people or get attention/sympathy, so I guess that’s why I would tend to think of that.
Of course, I might be totally wrong about that, and in that case, I definitely hope that everything works out well for this woman!
It’s more that the family is too busy and overwrought to keep everyone even vaguely connected to them updated. The girl in question is my mom’s good friend’s daughter - not a member of my family or someone I see frequently, but someone who I hear about from time to time, that sort of thing.
I wouldn’t even say that the family is necessarily confused about what is going on - just that not very much information is getting out and passed along.
As of late this afternoon, she’s still in the cardiac critical care, and on a ventilator. I haven’t heard any details on her heart function in a couple of days, but since they did attempt to sew her up this morning, I assume it’s improved. She’s still communicating from time to time, shaking her head yes/no, etc. She’s not in very good spirits, from what I’ve heard.
I wish I could go back and change the title of my post, since it’s perfectly clear to me now that an open chest doesn’t necessarily mean surgery is ongoing - but at the time, that’s what I was told, so what can I say. Mea culpa.
Sarabellum–I went ahead and hit the report post triangle to ask if the mods could help you change the title.
Best wishes to you and your friend.
What would you like it changed to?
How about “Open heart surgery - still open 5 days later”
As you wish.
Aw, isn’t that sweet - Czarcasm loves you.
Modern medicine can be a freakin’ marvel.
You know the more I think about it, the more I think your friend might be doing better than we imagine. You said she is able to respond (nodding and shaking head) I assume appropriately, and that she is not in good spirits (but who could blame her!) but let me tell you what that says to me. They let her wake up enough to be aware- if she were in such a shape that death was imminent they’d probably try to keep her snowed so that she would be “comfortable”. If she is in poor spirits or anxious then she probably understands (at least somewhat) what is going on, so there isn’t brain damage (or as much as there could be). If they are attempting to close her up, then her heart is working well enough to think they won’t need immediate access (I know the closing didn’t work the first time, but still…).
I think your friend is probably pretty strong and she sounds like she can fight through this better than my initial thoughts. I would remain cautiously optimistic about the outcome, and still think you shouldn’t give up hope just yet. I hope she continues to improve rapidly.
My father-in-law had an open chest incision for several months after having an ascending aortic aneurysm repair. I have no idea how it compares to this surgery, though.