A Glimpse Into the Future?

Yesterday,  I was pointed in the direction of a friend of a friend (Patricia) who went through open heart surgery a couple of years ago and had posted a fair amount of her experience to her Facebook wall before the procedure and during her recovery. Patricia gave me permission to go back and read through her posts. It was a fascinating look into what I can expect once I get there.

In case you haven't caught up yet, I've been diagnosed with a congenital heart defect called Aortic Insufficiency (or Aortic Regurgitation). effectively it's a leaky heart valve. I was diagnosed with a heart murmur when I was a baby but doctors told my parents that it was nothing to worry about. I've lived all of my life with this leaky valve without many symptoms. In saying that, I've always thought that I had some sort of asthma (but was never diagnosed with it) because I frequently got out of breath with mild exercise. Frankly, I've always just thought that I was out of shape. Whenever I would get a cold or flu, it would inevitably end up in my chest and due to that I was prescribed an inhaler to help clear my chest. Earlier this year, I seemed to be using it more frequently, sometimes just to help me catch my breath. Once again, I just assumed that I was out of shape. What I have come to find out is that my shortness of breath is a actually a result of the leaky valve!

So how is that back story relevant to today's post? What I found fascinating about reading Patricia's account of her journey was that her valve problem also went undiscovered for years. In fact she had been diagnosed with, and treated for 15 years for Asthma!  Something that her doctors now say she probably never had. I wonder how many other folks are wandering around with, sometimes out of breath due to, a leaky valve...

Among the big takeaways from reading Patricia's posts were the reality of the length of the recovery and the gravity of the procedure.  She noted on her one year anniversary of her operation that she had been told that it was a one year recovery time, and that she sort of scoffed at that when she heard it first. Then, a year in, she noted that it really had taken the full year and that her recovery was still not 100% complete.

To me, this sounds a little daunting; to be looking ahead to a year of doctors visits and healing and setbacks. To be in the hospital for a week or more.  Eight (or more) weeks to let my chest heal from being cut open. Months of being exhausted by short walks. But yet I find that this morning, my mind turns to the years of life that this surgery will grant me. The time when taking the groceries in from the car doesn't make me short of breath. The ability to kick the ball around the back yard with the kids without having to take breaks every few minutes to catch my breath. Being able to drive again without worrying about losing consciousness.

An interesting side-note, when reading through Patricia's posts, I came across a few related links to support groups and recovery sites. One thing that caught me eye was some discussion about people who have been through this surgery (and specifically being in the artificial heart machine that they hook up your circulatory system to while operating on your stopped heart). The discussion noted a correlation between this situation and depression. And that there is a sort of brotherhood of survivors who have noted this depressive tendency years after the surgery. In fact, Robin Williams had open heart surgery in 2010 and it had been said that his depression (and ultimately his suicide) may be linked back to his surgery.  Now of course I'm trying to stay as positive as possible so this was merely an interesting factoid a at this point but nonetheless something to store in the back of my mind for awareness.

The good news is that Patricia is a few years past her surgery now and is playing golf and enjoying life. I'm looking forward to being there (although it would be a miracle if I was able to play golf, cause I've never played!). That sort of reminds me of the woman who broke her arm and while the doctor was putting on the cast,  she asked if she would be able to play the piano after her arm healed. The doctor told her that it wouldn't be a problem at all and she'd be playing like a professional pianist after 8 weeks of healing. She said "that's great news, cause I was never any good at playing in the past"... *groan*