Journey Through a 2-Month Hospital Stay
Many of us have had times when we were admitted to the hospital because of heart failure. Depending on what the doctor says, you never know how long you’ll be there.
One of the hardest parts of my life was when I was in the hospital for 2 months. It was after a second stroke and I was in the recovery room after a thrombectomy, which is when they remove the clot from the artery. I couldn’t speak or move my right-hand side but at least I knew that I had survived another stroke.
They sent me to inpatient therapy to help me with walking, talking, and doing things for myself again. After being released from therapy, the doctors sent me home, but within a few days, I was admitted back to the hospital because I could not keep any food down. I was throwing up with just water in my system.
This is where the 2-month stent started. The doctors couldn’t figure out what was wrong with me until they did a right heart catheterization and realized that I was in advanced heart failure. It was right after my 30th birthday that the stroke happened and a few weeks later the doctors were talking to me about an LVAD.
My traumatic extended hospital stay
After the LVAD surgery, I couldn’t swallow any water, pills, or food. The speech therapist came to see me to run me through a swallow test that I failed, so the doctors and nurses put me on NPO (nothing by mouth). This is where the story begins. Having no food, and no water has to be one of the most mental, physical, and emotional challenges that I have ever faced.
The nurses came to put a NG (nasogastric) tube in my nose and I thought it would be quick, easy, and painless. I have never been so wrong in my life. They were struggling to get the tube in my nose and all I can remember is it being so painful and tears were running down my eyes. When the tube was finally in I was able to relax. They would feed me through the tube with some thick cold substance but it didn’t do anything for my hunger. It had gotten to the point where nobody who came to visit me was partaking in any eating or drinking because they knew that I couldn’t. Every morning the nurse would come and feed me through the tube. It had been so long since I was NPO I lost the desire even to eat.
The speech therapist came back once or twice to see if I could pass the swallow test and it just wasn’t looking good for me. The doctors told my family that if I couldn’t swallow they were going to have to put a feeding tube inside of me. That part scared me and I had one more chance with the speech therapist. They took me down to a room that looked like an operating room and the speech therapist gave me different foods to swallow. To be honest, I was excited to be eating pudding and graham crackers. Finally, after 2 weeks without food, I passed the swallow test. My family and I were so pleased that I didn’t have to get that tube the doctors were talking about.
Starting to feel like myself again
That 2-month ordeal in the hospital had been very traumatic. Finding out that I was in advanced heart failure, getting an LVAD, and having to recover from a 2nd stroke all at the same time took its toll on me. It took me a long time to start feeling like myself again, to be honest, I have not yet fully felt like myself since. Everyone told me that things would get better with time, but that was 5 years ago and I’m still trying to piece my life together. No matter how hard it was and is, I wouldn’t change any of what I went through because it made me who I am today.
This or That
Are you satisfied with your current heart failure healthcare team?
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