CABG surgery plus 11 days

This morning, in bed, I had another run of AF – the second since my hospital discharge. Like yesterday’s, today’s was not severe or long. And it responded quickly to Sotalol. As soon as my heart rhythm reverted to slow and regular (i.e. sinus rhythm) I had a shower. My first since being home. And I was strong enough to shower standing up. (In the hospital post-operatively I’d had two showers – both sitting in a shower chair because I didn’t have nearly enough endurance to shower standing up.) Minor progress – but progress nonetheless. Today Sweeetheart Vivienne, darling Meg and I went to a nearby café: Rue Bebelons [1]. Only 150 metres from our Melbourne home, but my first outing since hospital. It felt so good to sit there and drink coffee like a person who’s normal, i.e. not one who’s 11 days after CABG surgery. Otherwise my daily exercise and walking programmes continued. Late arvo darling Meg left us to travel home to Daylesford by train. Her 1½ day visit was a gem. As she is.

CABG surgery plus 10 days

Late yesterday afternoon I had a run of irregular heart rhythm due to AF – the first since my hospital discharge. I felt it in my chest. It was nowhere as severe or long as previous runs. And it responded in 10-15 minutes to a Sotalol tablet [1]. I wondered if a walk around the Melbourne Central shopping centre [2] a couple of hours earlier, had been too much. Especially as yesterday was a very emotional day for me. Anyway how wonderful to sleep in my own bed. With Sweetheart Vivienne beside me. And none of those mysterious nocturnal hospital noises. I slept through until 6 a.m. Then sporadically. The rest of today was a quiet day. I did my rehabilitation exercises. And I did my required daily 30 minutes of walking by gently treading the 35-metre corridor outside our Melbourne apartment – in two 15-minute stints, whilst simultaneously shortening my list of unlistened-to podcasts. Late morning darling Meg, laden with fresh produce, arrived to spend a couple of days with Sweetheart Vivienne and me. What joy for her dad. After dinner we watched a DVD movie called Bandidas, and then an episode from the third series of In Treatment. I can’t imagine a more enjoyable rehabilitation programme than this one.

CABG surgery plus three days

I spent all of today in the ICU – under close medical and nursing scrutiny. I had a few runs of AF. But none rapid and/or long. I was in a single room. I slept most of the day. That two hours of earthquake AF last night knocked the stuffing out of me. I was exhausted. And because today was only the third post-operative day, I was coming off a low base of energy and endurance.

CABG surgery plus two days

My wedding ring had been taped on pre-operatively. I didn’t know who’d removed it. Or why. And, more importantly, I didn’t know where it was. At this critical time, when I needed to feel so connected to Sweethert Vivienne, the absence of my wedding ring seemed a major portent. But with two lower chest draintubes, arterial or venous lines in my left neck and right elbow and left groin, an indwelling urinary catheter, long scars over my midline chest and front of left forearm, heart pacing wires coming from my chest, 12 leads taped to my skin for heart monitoring, and doped up with strong medications I was clearly unable to engage in any wedding ring detective work. That would have to wait for later. By lunchtime Wednesday – 20 hours since I regained consciousness (or at least sustained memory of it), I was ready to be moved from the 7th floor ICU to the 5th floor cardiac surgery ward. The transfer occurred about mid-day. Just after I presented the ICU staff with a ‘thank you’ bag of Haigh’s Chocolates [1]. A few hours later – Wednesday mid-evening – I, my bed, the ward, and even the hospital, began to shake. Violently. Irregularly. And they didn’t stop. It turned out I’d developed an irregular heart beat, called atrial fibrillation [AF]. It’s a known complication of CABG surgery, occurring in 40-60% of cases, and due to heart swelling during the surgery. It resulted in my immediate transfer back up to the ICU. It took a while to be controlled. My heart rate was over 200 per minute for over two hours. Eventually it settled. Everything stopped shaking. And my anxiety dissolved away.