How can I make a open heart surgery patient comfortable after surgery?
My father in a few weeks will be having surgery to replace his aortic valuve and i will be taking care of him after. I wanted some advice for him and I on things that would make the recovery easier... I was thinking of buying him a recliner, my thought being getting in and out of bed may be difficult... Is he gonna have problems showering or dressing himself or will it just be a slow process? Maybe something to grip the clothes and pull them up? Any advice from caregivers and/or survivors would be greatly greatly appreciated
Where can one get free heart surgery in India?
Today, I found an initiative in Akshay Kumar’s facebook official page.Happy Heart India, an initiative to help underprivileged children with free heart surgeries.Do you know a child, below 12 years of age who needs cardiac surgery & cannot afford it ?TIME TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT !We will evaluate every response, and ask for your echo cardiogram, chest x-ray, birth certificate and other tests. If shortlisted, we will operate on the child free of cost !To nominate a child, email : happyheartindia.asianheart@ahirc.comHave a heart, to save a heart ❤Akshay KumarOne of the finest actors in India, who can do any kind of roles.The way he chooses the scripts to make movies for society unlike other commercial heroes, is really commendable !The way he chooses to help people off screen through various initiatives is just next level !All the best for your future endeavors & keep contributing to society !!Real hero for a reason. Respect sir _/\_Thanks for your time :)Image source : Facebook - Akshay Kumar , Heart specialist in MumbaiP.S : One more place where one can get any kind of Heart surgery for children - Free of Cost is done at Shri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Medical Sciences, E.P.I.P. Area, Whitefield, Bangalore, India.For more info : Vamsi Krishna Namala's answer to Are there any trust hospitals for low-cost heart surgery in India?
How painful is open heart surgery?
My personal experience was surprisingly little pain, especially compared to what I was expecting.(As caveats I will note that: everyone’s experience is different especially as it relates to pain which is a subjective and poorly understood phenomenon, so this may not apply to all or many heart surgery patients; I was an otherwise-healthy 30-year-old doing a pre-scheduled operation, which gave me every conceivable advantage in recovery and pain management.)In the hospital (where I stayed for a week post-surgery) they constantly asked me to rate my own pain to regulate the medication. There is a standard pain scale:I averaged about a 4: Serious discomfort but not “pain” per se. I was very heavily medicated for the weeks after surgery, and my team at Stanford Hospital did a phenomenal job at managing pain — checking in constantly with me, responding to my needs, taking my seriously when I reported a feeling.The highest I ever got was a 6 or 7 on one night, which was extremely distressing. It felt like a bubbling, surging pain that could easily balloon into something truly agonizing. The pain itself was bad, but the fear it might erupt was worse. I’ve never experienced that particular feeling and I hope not to again. It gave me a lot of empathy for people with chronic pain or injuries — living not just with the pain itself, but with the fear and anticipation of that pain escalating.There were a few more bad nights once I was home, with a similar feeling of cascading, roiling pain that I was unable to stop. It never reached any higher than 7 though.The only other truly painful experience was sneezing — My sternum was been broken across a 6–8″ incision, and sneezing was like getting punched directly in that broken bone. The worst part was that you know a sneeze is coming, so I’d spend the 3 seconds leading up to it thinking “Oh no oh shit oh no” which reliably freaked out whoever I was standing next to. The sneeze never failed to deliver an experience exactly as painful as I was expecting.
What health insurance companies cover the lap band surgery?
My BMI is 33.7 but I am 100 pounds over my ideal weight. I also have hypertension. The medications that I am have caused me to gain this weight within the past 6 months. My doctor has advised me against quitting them. I cannot afford the lap band surgery. I am looking to either take out a loan or possibly get health insurance. Does anyone know what health insurance companies cover (even if only partially) this surgery? Has anyone had experience, and would I qualify under the insurance's terms?
Do people in America get left to die if they can't afford healthcare as they don't have NHS?
Sort of. If you go to a hospital emergency room, they’re required by law to stabilize your condition. That’s great if you’re having a heart attack just then. However, it’s only until they get you stable. You don’t get rehab if you’ve had a heart attack, you don’t get any ongoing treatment if you’ve got cancer, and so on. So while you won’t be left to die that minute if you were going to die otherwise, they won’t really help you get better or correct underlying problems.Health insurance will pay for a percentage of ongoing care and medications, but even if you do have it, some of the cost comes out of your pocket, so if you’re insured but poor, you often simply can’t afford chemotherapy for cancer, surgery for heart problems, and so on. A variety of public insurance programs (Medicare, Medicaid, aspects of the Affordable Healthcare Act) are meant to fill those gaps, but there are still issues, and today the House of Representatives has voted to gut the system in favor of tax cuts for the rich. If you’re suffering a crisis, you can get help regardless of your ability to pay, but the system as constituted is perfectly willing to let the less-than-wealthy die slowly at home.
How safe is heart bypass surgery? what are the chances of dying during surgery?
No surgery is safe. That's why you sign your life away before they operate on you. However, if you do not have by-pass surgery and you need it, you will die fairly soon. The procedure is done thousands of times a day. Find the best Doc in you town/city get him/her to accept you as their patient. The best Docs work at good hospitals and command good staff assignments. It will work out well for the patient 75-87% of the time.
Anyone had heart valve replacement surgery before?
Surgery is scary. My husband had an aortic valve replacement 3 years ago, and it's done it's job well. Make sure though, to research and discuss at length with your doctor, surgeon, etc. whether to choose a tissue valve or mechanical valve. There are both advantages and disadvantages to either, and you have to determine which one is right for you. The recovery process can take about 6-12 weeks, but if you're healthy otherwise, you should be literally good as new.