When we think about surgery there are certain things we think about; pain, medication and terrible hospital food. But there are a few things they don't tell you, but fear not, I am here to shed some light on the little details you don't here about from your doctor!!
#1 3am wake up calls - Even though all you want to do is sleep after surgery, your nurses will have other ideas. They will wake you up at 3 or 4 am to give you your medication and weigh you before the morning staff come in for their shift and yes it is as irritating as it sounds. Sleep is hard enough in a hospital with constant noises and lights on all night not to mention lack of sleep through pain, so any sleep you can get is greatly savoured and the early morning wake up call was not a welcome surprise (for me any way) like really how rude!! 😵
#2 Your hair will stop growing - Yes your hair will stop growing, mine took 6 months to start growing again after my surgery, BUT it gets worse, at least for me it did. My hair was on a constant shedding cycle for at least 7 months thats how long it took for mine to stop falling out in my hands when I would wash it. It is only just recently in the last few months grown and become strong and healthy again. As annoying and scary as it might sound there is a perfectly reasonable explanation for it, it is simply from all the medication and the anaesthetic that is pumped through your system. it does come back to norma though so fear not!!
#3 You will most likely have a reduced appetite - Having a reduced appetite in hospital isn't really surprising when you think about it, I mean the food alone is enough to put anyone off eating, but I found it to be more than that. With all the medication your on it stands to reason that you don't really feel like eating anything as important as the nurse tell you it is, and they are right but that doesn't really help in the moment does it?! I assumed that once I was home and on less medication, that my eating would return to normal, and well my desire to eat returned I have found that I cannot physically eat the same quantities I used to (not an entirely bad thing) this short has been something I have had to get used to and adjust my eating accordingly. This may not be the case for everyone however if yours does change, your not the only one.
#4 Scars - Well obviously you will have scars, but how big and how noticeable will depend on a few things: where it is, what type of surgery it was e.g Key Hole, and what was done. For example key hole surgery, as noted in the name is usually rather small and not too invasive therefore they usually heal really well and fade quicker than other scars.
My scar is a big ugly one that goes from the back if my shoulder all they way around my shoulder blade down to my rib cage, and because it was heart surgery, with out being to graphic things are moved and cut so it is red and lumpy still all this time later. I am lucky though, most surgeries for CHD are done on babies and young children therefore they have what is commonly known as a 'zipper' or a sternum scar.
The other thing that is not commonly known about scars, and I certainly didn't know, is that chest tube scars don't ever really fade like normal scars. So not only are they painful and annoying when they are in but they stay there red and raised jut to remind you!
The other thing I found surprising is that the scar tissue from my chest tubes still catches on my ribs sometimes and partly restrict my movement.
While it sounds scary it is more just irritating more than anything and thankfully I have been able to get back to my life, and for that I am forever grateful.
Jess xx
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