I Survived Open Heart Surgery

Many of you will know this, but I was born with the genetic heart condition, hyper tropic cardio myopathy. I have a thickened wall in the outflow of my heart where it was creating a serious pressure gradient, and making my heart beat faster. And both of those served to allow less oxygen to get out of my heart. I was on medicine to slow my heart rate so that the oxygen problem would not get too bad, but it hit the point of having to have surgery.My cardiologist sent me to one good surgeon, but my family wanted me to go to the excellent UCLA Cardiac Unit. We ended up going to a couple of doctor’s because of some issues, but after a couple of months surgery was scheduled.I immediately got a stress headache that lasted the month, and was not helped by a lot of stress at work, and having to work right up to surgery.On the Tuesday before surgery we got a call and they moved my surgery up a day to make sure it fit into the schedule. We had to call the day before, and they kept making it earlier in the day until we had to be there at 5:30 am. Met family there and checked in and they called us in shortly and took me to pre-op on the second floor with my wife. I got changed into my dressing gown, peed a few times, and saw a bunch of nurses, and a couple of anesthesiologists. And at 8:30 they came in and gave me the anesthetic, and wheeled me out. That is the last I remember for a while.Here is me in pre-op and with my first IV put in.Waking up in the ICU is a complete blur. Just some images and feelings. I saw my wife and the nurses and then my family, but it was all a blur.This is me with Kelly, still unconscious, and with the breathing tube still in.After I am initially awake with my mom.And here I am with Kelly after the surgery.And here with with Kelly where you can see the horrible things that inflated on my legs to keep me from getting blood clots.And here I am retaining some serious water.The nurses were amazing. And so helpful, but that first night was hell. I was told it was from being stretched out on the table for so long, but I have never felt muscle pain like I felt that night. I just couldn't get ahead of the pain until they gave something via IV that knocked out the pain.That first day my favorite thing in the world was ice chips. Water, I would immediately throw up immediately, but a spoonful of ice chips was like heaven.Then I developed a severe atrial fibrillation, a weird heart rhythm that was all over the place. They tried everything to get it back, from drug cocktails to playing with the inserted pacing wires and trying to re-pace my heart.…