surgery days

He made it! After a six hour open heart surgery and lots of pain medicine, Ben is home and recovering. Let's start from the beginning.

In May, my parents and Ben went to the cardiologist for their annual visit, where it was decided that he would need a valve replacement sometime this summer. Because of the long recovery time and the extended bed rest that would be required afterwards, the end of the summer was decided on for the surgery date.

All week, Ben seemed pretty okay with it all. He didn't seem too nervous or concerned about it. My parents and Ben left in the morning before the sun even rose. Apparently, when they arrived, Ben became a lot more nervous (as would be expected), so they gave him a dose of laughing gas. After 10-15 minutes, he started laughing and the kid could not stop. Then he couldn't hold his neck up. It was like he was drunk. He then wanted to walk around, but it ended up being my dad just dragging him around.

Then the nurse came and wheeled him away. The waiting had begun. Andrew and I got there around ten , which is when the actual procedures began (before that was jut pre-op/anesthesia stuff). Not long after, my grandparents arrived. As I had expected my grandmother came fully prepared to camp out if need be. She came with five sandwiches, drinks and clothes for everyone. It was really nice. Every hour or so, Ben's surgical nurse, Brandy, would come and update us on what was going on, which definitely helped. She would tell us what the doctor had just finished, his next step in the procedure, how Ben was doing, and when we could expect the next update. Around three o'clock, she came out and said we could come and see him. That was the part of the whole thing I was most nervous for. I wasn't sure if I could see my brother hooked up to a million machines and barely awake with a huge scar down his chest. When I walked into the room, it was tough, but he was beginning to wake up. My parents started talking and he nodded, which helped. I couldn't speak without crying, so I just stood there. It was hard, but I'm glad I saw him. It was the first time I've ever seen my dad cry. The nurses said he was doing well and that he would begin to wake up more and more as the day went on. The next day, he was more awake and doing really well considering all that he had been through. His nurses were all extremely dedicated and just generally nice people. His surgical nurse, Brandy, even took me aside when she could tell I was having a hard time and reassured me that he really was doing well. His main nurse during the day was Allison. She was really nice, but a little spacey. She meant well, but just wasn't all there sometimes.

Friday night, things got a little rough. His pain medicine was making his stomach upset and he spent the night getting sick. The same happened on Saturday night. On Saturday, he had major back pain and was feeling major discomfort. The poor kid was just a mess. Luckily, nothing was wrong with his heart or anything related to the procedure itself. By Monday, Ben was so ready to come home. His stomach had calmed down and the back pain had gone away. The nurse (a new nurse) had said that if were able to walk around and keep his food down, he might be able to go home. When the doctor came in to look at him, he said that he wanted to keep him over night just to check on him. Ben was heartbroken and I don't blame him. Six days in a hospital surrounded by crying babies is rough.

Tuesday morning, nine a.m., the nurse came in to release him and do one last check up. When she went to go take off patches that were putting pain medicine in him, there were huge sores on his chest. My mom said that it looked like he had skinned his chest. Apparently, the patches were supposed to be changed every 12 hours, but hadn't been changed last night. They wanted to call in a wound specialist just to make sure everything was okay. That sounded like a good idea at first, but when 12 o'clock rolled around and she still hadn't showed up, it wasn't sounded like such a great idea. Luckily, she came, checked him out, and said everything was fine. I don't know if Ben has ever been so glad to be home.

Throughout this whole thing, I've learned a lot. Medically, I've learned more about the heart than I ever did in any class. I've become stronger than I was before this and am stronger than I think. I have a great support system of friends and family that were there every step of the way. My parents make a great team, even under the amount of stress they were feeling this week. And most importantly, my little brother is my hero.