I have been a bit overwhelmed by how many people have asked about how I am doing. I’ve been able to respond to some of you but unfortunately not to everyone. I’m grateful for the chance to bring you up to date. It’s been just over two months since I was ushered into surgery for a mitral valve repair, which involved opening my chest, stopping and removing my heart, fixing the leaky valve, putting my heart back in place, restarting it, and closing up my chest.
In all there were 10 people in the operating room and I was briefly introduced to each of them and told what they would be doing. I was fashionably dressed in a hospital gown and sheet with an IV placed in my arm. Once the introductions were finished, things moved very quickly. The lead nurse asked the anesthetist, doctors, and several nurses if they were a “go.” (I wondered if I was about to be launched to Mars.) She then looked at the anesthetist and said, “We are all a ‘go’,” and started counting backward “5, 4, 3, 2, 1.” I was out in less than 5 seconds.
Four hours later I woke up looking at my surgeon, his two assistants, and three new nurses. For the umpteenth time that day I was asked if I knew my name, birthday and where I was. I passed the test again! Then I was asked if I was in pain. I did a quick check and said, “No” as I really couldn’t feel anything yet. They moved me from a bed to a chair and by 5:00pm they had me up and “walking” – 200 steps (probably 80 feet)!
Day two. They lowered the level of pain relievers and the pain shot way up. I moaned and panted the whole day. I ended up staying in the hospital for nine days instead of five because I was still draining fluids from my chest cavity. Coughing and sneezing were very painful.
I also had a scare the first week home when I went blind in one eye. They were concerned that I might be having a stroke caused by a blood clot. My heart was throwing off clots and some went to my brain. Fortunately, they were small and the blindness, which has reoccurred twice, was brief.
Now, two months later, I am doing better than my doctor expected. I can walk two miles – usually without dizziness and most days I can work three to five hours, although my ability to stay focused isn’t quite back to normal yet. Some days are still total write-offs and I sleep for 15 hours. My doctor says “That’s just fine. You have survived three rounds in the ring with Mohammed Ali in his prime. You need to cooperate with your body’s demands if you are to heal well.”
I am thankful for my ‘team’. If I list everyone who cared for me at the hospital, including the pharmacists, cooks, and maintenance team, that is well over 100 people. Add in the hundreds of you who prayed for me and provided meals post-op and I realize I owe a deep debt of love and gratitude to you all.
Thanksgiving this year… Hmmmm! I hope you find it a day as rich in gratefulness and joy as it will be for me. My heart will truly be full of gratitude!
Mike Shaughnessy is the Founder of Grandly and had open heart surgery on 9/9/2024.
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