On 24 March 2011 I underwent open-heart surgery to repair my mitral valve. The surgery was successful and the surgeon was able to repair the valve rather than replace it. I was discharged from the hospital on 31 March 2011 and have been mostly resting at home since.
The only difficulty was that it took a little longer than it should have to wean me off the ventilator. At the end of the surgery, the anesthesiologist gave me a really good goose of anesthesia to keep me unconscious until I was settled in the intensive care unit. I kept falling asleep when I was supposed to be awake and breathing deeply and apparently the anesthesia caused sleep apnea. So they had to keep waking me up telling me that my breathing would have to be better than the machine to get off the ventilator. I wish they would’ve told me that my arms would be restrained—it was quite disturbing. But I made it through the other side, and here I am.
I’m tired and weak and in a good deal of pain (especially at night). It’s only recently made it through my thick skull that recovery is going to take a while—and that it will take place on its own schedule, not mine.
I want to thank my closest friends and family for the incredible level of love and support I’ve received. It’s truly unbelievable. I couldn’t have made it through this without my wife; she’s so far beyond awesome, I can’t even say. Of course the dog thinks she’s in charge now because she’s the only one working any more.
The level of care I received while in the hospital was extraordinary. All of the physicians, nurses, aides, and staff were incredible. They were professionally prepared for everything and had done this so many times it was second nature. I’ve always said that for crises, give me a good American hospital every time—nothing’s better than the American healthcare system in a crisis. But once the crisis is over, the wheels fall off and I did what I had to do—walk up and down 60 steps, 1,000 cycles on the step machine, and get in and out of their little toy car effectively—to get discharged as quickly as possible.
What’s next?
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