Tomorrow I head back to Charleston for an appointment with the surgeon who repaired my heart valve—Dr. Ikonomidis. With some luck he will release me from surgical care and back to the care of my local cardiologist. Hopefully he will also clear me do drive. My pain has really subsided and most days I take the medication only once a day—usually in the evening when the pain I still have accumulates to the point where I feel kind of beat down and tired. I haven’t been walking outside regularly, but I’ve definitely ramped up my activities—usually around the house. Most nights by dinner time I am pretty tired and it leaves me wondering if I can manage consistent walking. On the other hand, I know I need to start walking or I’ll never rebuild my stamina.
Not too long ago I wrote a post where I talked about finding and meeting Dr. Ikonomidis and discovering that I had a chance of having my heart valve repaired. I met him on a Tuesday and he offered me a chance to have the surgery done three days later on a Friday. After making sure this was the path I wanted to take, I set up the surgery for Friday and the pre-operative work up for the day before. Needless to say, I started to get pretty nervous about the surgery. The fast track I put it on was both a blessing and a curse. It was a blessing because it brought surgery on fast and didn’t give me a lot of time to really get worried. On the other hand, it forced me to face the idea that my chest was going to be cracked open and my heart cut on.
Fortunately, thanks to some really professional nurses at MUSC and some good friends in Charleston, the day and night before my surgery prepared me perfectly for what was to come next. When Thursday came, after a hectic couple of days in Columbia, I drove back to Charleston for a battery of pre-operative tests…blood, urine, chest x-rays, echocardiogram, questions, questions, questions. I was in the hospital from 9:30 until after 5. Throughout the day, all the nurses and technicians were really nice and took the time to talk to me. I was by myself, so seeing lots of friendly faces really humanized the whole experience and left me feeling more comfortable with the hospital and the people there. Looking back on everything, I think how I was treated really helped me get over any anxiety I had about the surgery. They treated me like a person, really seemed to care about me as an individual, and assured me that my doctor and surgical team were the best I could find.
The thing that really topped it off for me came at the very end of the day. It was 5 and I had finished all the tests and was just waiting to sign some waivers. I had been told I wouldn’t see my surgeon because he had been in surgery all day. To my surprise, he showed up to explain the waivers. He didn’t have to do that, some other doctor was supposed to do it. He told me he had come directly from surgery to talk to me. Now maybe he does this for everyone, but it really made me feel good to know he made that effort after a long day of surgery. I left the hospital that night feeling very positive and comfortable.
I could have driven back to Columbia to spend the night, but instead took some friends up on their offer to stay at their house so I could have a nice short ride to surgery the next morning. That was the other thing that really helped prepare me. I knew if had been with my family I would have been both distracted and a little stressed. I really needed some peace and to be able to focus my energy on me. At the same time, I knew I really didn’t want to be alone in a hotel. It would have been too easy to fixate on what was coming. So I crashed with Ed and Tracee and their three boys.
That night was the season premiere of Grey’s Anatomy and Tracee really wanted to watch it. I know Ed was worried that the show might not be the best thing for me to watch. It shows surgeons screwing up, worrying more about themselves than their patients, and even some good old fashioned blood and guts. I suppose it could have been unnerving to think about how my surgical team might be sleeping with one another, competing for recognition, or thinking about a social worker taking their adopted Chinese child away from them. Instead of unnerving, I found it all funny. Watching the show actually gave me a chance to laugh at the whole thing—Ed and I cut up through the entire episode. I think making fun really helped put me at ease. Unfortunately it came at Tracee’s expense because I am sure it was hard to follow her show over the comments and laughter. She was a good sport about it, though.
After washing three-quarters of my body with some super-powerful antibacterial soap (that I was warned not to get on my privates lest they be instantly eaten away) and shoving some antibacterial ointment in my nose and bellybutton, I went to sleep. Thanks to Ed and Tracee (and Phillip for giving up his bed) I had a nice, comfortable night’s sleep free from any worry.
It is hard to overstate how important the day was in preparing me for surgery…and what made it so important was that a bunch of people showed me they cared by doing simple things like talking to me or opening their home, feeding me (the surest way to my heart), and making me laugh.
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