Breathing tube after open heart surgery

I greatly appreicate the opporutnity to ask some questions.

I was informed some time ago that I would have to have an aortic valve replacemnt. That time is approaching, and I have ben informed that it would be best to have the surgery in the summer. I am fine with having the surgery. except for one thing. I heard that a breathing tube is place into the throat and is kept there for a time after surgery. I also read that sometimes the patients hands are tied down. To be honest I am very concerned about being in that situaton.
If you have had open heart surgery. could you please let me know what to expect. tell me anyting that might help in accepting and dearling with that situation. I believe it is not only the tube but the inability to communicate that is bothering me. Thanks in advance.

[Quadruple]

Everyone is different and has different experiences. Some don't have the tube in long, other do. Some only spend a day or 2 in the ICU and others spend more then a week. Some don't even remember the tube or any thing that happended the first few days, while other recall everything and even recall outter body experiences like they they where standing in a long line at heavens gates.
The tube is breathing for you and they have to make sure you are able to breathe on your own before they take it out. You will be on a lot of drugs, so if by any chance you come to and feel it, you probably will pass out with-in a couple of minutes, so it will not be a long terrible thing that will be making you suffer. But, Like I said many don't recall anything.
My personal experience was: I felt myself coming to, I couldn't move or see, but I felt pain all over and felt something in my throat that I thought it was stopping me from breathing, I could hear the voices of people in the room, and I was able to move my left hand, I pointed towards my mouth and an angel voice of a female nurse explained it had to stay in and everything went well, I was still in a panic thinking I wasn't breathing, I could then feel her holding my left hand and I quickly passed out again. Then the next time I awoke, the tube wasn't in, I could see now, and I was struggling to breathe a bit, but I was breathing on my own. :-)
Don't worry about the breathing tube, but just remember if you do come to, that its OK and that it's breathing for you.

[ed34]

Well I thought the same thing, when I had my bypass surgery. In fact, I found the tube to be very relaxing, it did my breathing for me. You can't even feel it in there. Some people as a natural reaction or in panic do try to pull the tube out but if you just relax you can't feel it. I just closed my eyes and went back to sleep and then they woke me up to say it was going to be removed. It was harder to breathe on my own. It's horrifying, some of the stories you read, but take it from someone who experienced it, it really is very comfortable. The only time you will GAG is when they put the tube in, as it passes the throat, but when you wake up this has all been done. They usually keep you on meds to calm you after the surgery, so you stay relaxed for initial healing. This makes it easy to fall back to sleep, especially as some anaesthetic is still in your body tissue.

[ed34]

"Then the next time I awoke, the tube wasn't in"

That's interesting, I believed it was normal for the patient to be awake before they removed it. When my Wife was in intensive care, they also stopped her sedatives so she was fully awake. They said something about the patient has to be awake so they can breathe for themselves, when asleep or sedated, they don't always breathe. They also made me clutch a pillow tightly into my chest and cough several times, to prove I could bring up any fluids in my lungs un-aided.

[Quadruple]

The tube was not anywhere near relaxing or comfortable to me, it actually felt like someone had shoved a baseball bat down my throat and left it there. And the whole time it was in, I never actually saw it with my own eyes. When I felt it, I couldn't open my eyes for some reason, maybe they taped them closed?. But it felt terrible, and if I didn't feel more extreme pain all over the rest of my body, I guess it would have been really painfully. But the main problem with it for me, was I thought it was stopping me from breathing, as I couldn't feel or hear myself breathing.
And I don't recall them taking it out , tho I do remember thinking I had died and then hearing that angel nurse's voice again yelling my name and telling me that I needed to breathe over and over. I thought it was weird that I could hear her yelling at me to breathe when I thought I had already dead. lol
Now, I was awake when they removed all the rest of the tubes, wires, and caths, one was a smaller tube that went up my nose and down my throat.
I think it's very different for everyone, and its a broad range, and I think alot of things matter why it may be different, like age. Like I've never heard of anyone that felt the breathing tube was relaxing, that just sounds crazy, so it goes to show how differently each of us experience it.
But at worse I think the only thing the breathing tube does, is it might be for "some of us", a bother for a minute or two, and it might be the cause of why "some of us" have a cough for awhile after and a funny taste in our mouths for weeks, but not something to really worry about.
Looking back now, I would say there is only 3 main things to "worry about" is: gettting your scar infected, your sternum not healing correctly, and retaining water. These are the things to learn about and keep an eye on. I never had any troubles, but I've heard of the ones that did had one of these 3.

[Quadruple]

I see your in the UK. I'm in NY, US. Maybe another reason for a different experience?..

[ed34]

So, when they removed the tube and you had to breathe for yourself, you didn't experience a lot more discomfort?  I think in my case I was quite sedated. I was told before surgery that I would wake up with a tube in my throat, it was all explained in great detail and was told not to panic. So nothing was really a shock. Well, I say nothing, it was a shock as to just how nice it felt for the machine to do the breathing for me. It does seem a little strange you don't have to do any work, but nothing really caused me a problem and I had no fear. Maybe it was the detailed explanation before surgery that prepared me and the sedatives.
The only thing I did find uncomfortable was having my lungs cleaned prior to the tubes removal. I had to give a couple of coughs and a small tube was passed down inside the larger one to remove excess mucus etc. This was done twice and the tube was then quickly removed. I certainly noticed the work load when it was removed, I could only inflate my chest about a third of the usual due to discomfort. With breathing exercises, again shown by expert staff, the breathing became much easier after a couple of days.
The biggest piece of advice I can offer is regarding pain relief. Apparently, you are put on a standard regime of pain meds which do not suit everyone. Some people need more and it wasn't until I was discharged that I discovered you can ask for more :(
So, if you feel any pain, ask for more pain meds.