Lisa's Journal

Hello All, I am sending out this post for advice from other’s to see if anyone else has experienced the same issue my father, Tom McInerney (alson on this blog from Cleveland) has been having. He is complaining of a “stabbing” or “poking” in his chest (he is 5 months out of surgery). He is also having a strange “shocking” sensation around his neckline that makes him want to scratch it. The doctor ordered a CXR which came back fine. He is suggesting that since my dad lost a lot of weight post op, that perhaps he is feeling the wires from his sternum more since he does not have as much “fat” on his chest. He is also suggesting that my dad go see the surgeon to see if they can “clip” the wire that is bothering him……..5 months post op who wants’ to go get cut open? Yes, not him. So friends, anyone else experience this and if so, what did you do or did it just go away or not? Any suggestions would be most helpful. Thanks in advance!

Hello everyone, Tom McInerney's daughter here, thought I would share something with you that was helpful to my parents after my dad's surgery. A friend of mine that had valve repair warned me that my dad would be on many drugs. She suggested I get a few pill boxes to organize him. My mother picked up two boxes marked M-F and I picked up a third one based on my father's meds. 16 different medications! I first labled the top of each pill container with the drug name in addition to the name on the label. I wrote on the pharmacy label what the pill was for, example blood pressure. Then I went through the list the hospital provided which the nurse marked by each name the times to be taken. I marked one set of boxes AM and the other PM. The third box which was different looking I marked 5:00. I then went through each drug and placed them where they went AM, PM or both. I filled up the boxes for the entire week. My father had another drug that needed to be taken 1hour before the AM meds so I left that out and marked it 8AM. My parents said this helped them out big time. You get home from the hospital dealing with the residue of the anasthesia & pain meds so your in a bit of a brain fog not to mention sleep deprivation for both the patient and the care giver so you don't need to think twice if you took something. Long winded yes but I think this is helpful to those nearing your surgery date. Best of luck to you all, you too will soon be on the recovery side😀!