Rest assured they keep you sedated and you aren't in any pain. In fact the cardiac units usually have instructions to provide pain meds anytime you just ask. I had 9 hour surgery and never experienced a bit of pain afterwards.

I'm a scardy cat too when it comes to procedures. Although I'm not usually scared of the after I'm usually scared of the actual procedure. I have a high pain tolerance so if I'm going to be asleep for the procedure I really have zero fear of the pain.. I know I can deal with pain.. My last procedure was an angiogram and was afraid of the pain of going in thru the wrist and most afraid of what the results would be. It hurt like a son but only for a few seconds. Not looking forward to when I have to do it again whenever that may be but it wasn't terrible. I can't say about what you're going thru. But I can say that in the hospital after my stents were placed during my heart attack they were very quick to offer pain meds.. pushed them even.. LOL So I'm sure you'll have all kinds of pain meds at your disposal during your stay.. Take them even if you don't think you need them cause when they wear off it takes a bit to get back in the system. So just take them as much as you can. You'll do great. You've made it this far. This will be a cake walk.

Dont know about pain but I can speak to potential success. My ex boss
had it 29 years ago in his late 40 ..was a heavy smoker with a high stress job. He's now 68 and still going strong.

I've had lot's of procedures and even some surgeries I have to admit this this surgery has me concerned as well. Maybe, one of the worst things I could have done was last weekend when I watched a video of the surgery. It's kind of got me freaking out a little.

I am having this done in 2 days. I am so scared. My doctor is kind and said worries that I have I can talk to him about.

annieheart ~ I'm guessing you didn't realize this post is from 2 years ago. Unlikely any of these characters are still here.

It's great that your doctor will share with you, but it's highly unlikely he's had open heart so doesn't really know first hand what we experience. Rest assured they do this thousands of times every day and it's pretty much routine nowdays. As I said two years ago, you shouldn't be in any pain afterward. I was kept under for 3 days after due to the severity of my condition and they wanted to give my heart some time to recover stress free. Still other than a bit of confusion after the procedure I was okay. Nowdays they try to get you in and out in average 5 days so you'll be home lounging before you know it.

Good luck to you, we'll be thinking about you

i had open heart surgery about 14 years ago. i am now retired from this. when i woke up from being asleep from the drug, i was in no pain, i was flying high, after the drug wore off, i started to feel pain, when they sent me home all i did was sit in recliner and watch TV, take a good strong pain pill they gave me to take when i felt pain. it took me a few months to recover from it all. after all that was done and my healing i went for retirement for my Dr said i can no longer work. i was about 44 45 years old when i had my heart attack at work. i am now 54 years old and see my heart Dr on a regular basis and see my regular Dr also. i see others have posted about your surgery. hope they all can help you relax and answer your questions. hope i helped you also. good luck and take care of your self.