It’s done.

Heart surgery is finished and I am told that I am recovering very quickly. They even said they are impressed by my fast recovery & my dedication to getting through it but also that I needed very little medication afterwards that many people usually have to take right after surgery.

I was wheeled into the operating room still awake, getting ready to be moved over onto the operating table, and the power went out. “Holy shit” I thought to myself. The surgeon decided to scrub the mission because he was not going to operate while on generator power; disappointing, but a decision I agreed with fully and without question. It freaked me out a bit to be honest.

Of course, I now have “The Zipper”, along with scars on my legs were the had tubes and from where they got the veins for the grafting. Yesterday two chest drain tubes and catheter were removed along with two wires. Today the last drain tube came out of my chest along with a wire and tube that were removed from my neck.

Recovery, like I said, is going well. It’s not as bad as I thought it was going to be but it’s certainly something to avoid. Learning how to do everyday tasks in a a different way is challenging, but if I don’t it could be a huge setback if, for instance, my sternum doesn’t heal or heal correctly – I’d have to re-do the recovery from the beginning. Having that surgery is brutal enough when you don’t have pre-existing health issues, but with my neck and back problems the surgery certainly made the pain in those areas much worse.

Now it’s just a matter of figuring out a plan for post-op – a surgical rehab center or home health visits. I am getting around pretty well but I still have to be cautious.

Just wanted to send out a quick post-op update. Enjoy your day!