Thinking Back to 10 Years Ago

Ten years ago today, December 15, 2014, I underwent my third open-heart surgery. Surgery #3, as I commonly refer to it, was by far the most scary due to a raging infection within my chest. This day almost went unnoticed by me (thanks, Martha, for remembering it). To my family and me, this day is about hope.

December 15, 2014, was a Monday. I was admitted to the hospital on Friday, December 12, due to an infection in my chest. At the time, we did not know the cause of the infection – all we knew was it was awful and causing chaos in my body. The plan for the weekend was to keep things from getting worse and to open me up on Monday morning to debread the infection and replace the damage it caused within my heart, aortic valve, pulmanary valve, aortic root, and minor damage to the tri-cuspid valve. The aortic valve and aortic root has been replaced 15 month prior, September 2013.

By Monday morning, I had worsened but made it. Surgery started early that morning; the plan was to do as much as possible as long as I cooperated. We joked that it was like a choose-your-own-adventure book. My surgeon chuckled and agreed that everything was a game time decision one he was in there.

After nine or so hours, after removing as much infection as possible, they replaced the aortic valve and pulmonary valve, repaired the tri-cuspid, and installed a new aortic root. The following day, they would go back in and remove a portion of my omentum and wrap my heart with it. The omentum is enriched with anti-infection properties. This procedure was done my a plastic surgeon and after it was completed my heart surgeon closed me up.

All things went well, and I behaved in the OR for the most part. The surgical team was pleased with the results, but I had a long way to go to get my strength back and heal. In my previous surgeries, I had been healthy, which made my ability to recover from major heart surgery easier.

In the immediate days after surgery, all I wanted to do was go home and be able to sit by my Christmas Tree. A week after my surgery, I was home sitting by my tree.

As I look back over the past ten years, I have so much to be grateful for! I am confident that today would not have been possible without my medical team. As a chronic cardiac patient, I have been blessed with an amazing medical team that understands me and is willing to work together and talk with other providers.

As I look forward, I hope my heart will remain stable and not require any troubleshooting. I will work to provide as much hope, love, and gratitude as possible. Some days are hard, and there will always be those days, but there will always be something to find hope in, something to love, or something to be grateful for.

Merry Christmas to you!

-B