Dennis, I had my only real stay in a hospital at age 65 when I had emergency surgery for a ruptured appendix. I don't know about chest surgery but I can tell you abdominal surgery involves more than a little pain for several days.
Here are some of the things I learned:
The first morning they showed me how the pain button worked. I was certain they told me it could only be used ever 30 minutes. At day 4 one of the nurses was amazed at how little narcotics I was consuming. That is when I discovered that they had actually told me the time limit was every 5 minutes. What ever the time limit for you, make certain you get it right. Spending most nights waiting for the next pain relief dose was very unpleasant.
When you are getting to the point where you want out of there, invest a bit of time in walking the hallways. I strongly suspect that they pass this information on to you doctor. If they don't show you how to handle all of the gear attached to you, ask them. I only ever saw my actual doctor during his morning rounds.
The food really sucks. I had a fried cheese sandwich that was both burned and cold. When you feel up to eating, get you wife to smuggle in some tasty treats.
Bring some good DVD's to watch on their TV. Their cheap basic cable mostly have things like the shopping channel. Also bring some good books to read. I recommend any of Lee Child's "Reacher" novels.
Let you family and friends know that you do not want visits for the first several days and when they do visit to please keep it short. (Maintaining a brave happy face gets old real quick.)
If you take any OTC meds for things like a stuffy nose, smuggle them in your ditty bag.
About 4 am every morning they would take a blood sample, that got old. A mysterious person would show up every so often and check my vitals. They are the equivalent of police internal affairs.
Bring a pair of flip flops. They issue walking socks but the floors are not really all that clean. Never once in my 5 day stay were the room floors mopped. If you have to carry around that large urine bag do not set it on the floor with the metal drain clip facing down, trust me on this one.
Seriously work the breathing exercises. They help prevent hospital pneumonia which can be a real killer. I lost two elderly friends to that during their hospital stays.
Many hospitals now let you log on to their site to see the results of all the tests they perform. It is interesting.
Without exception the nurses were outstanding. Even the plainer ones were beautiful (females that is). Be nice to them even when you are feeling poorly, you well got a lot better service from them. Do not be hitting the call button over every trivial thing.
About a week after my jail time, I bought a giant box of high quality chocolates and delivered it to them to show my appreciation.
John
