I was surprised to find myself in an ICU with a breathing tube down my throat, and people telling me I had heart surgery! At first, I thought they were telling me I had a heart attack. Turns out, I had a thoracic aortic aneurysm with dissection and valve repair (though I was later to get an echocardiogram that indicates I also had a heart attack on the operating table...lost 11% of heart function). I have no memory of the events of that day, just text message and phone log evidence that I reached out to my employer and my boyfriend as I was having my cardiac episode.
Other than that, the post-surgical surprises were:
--How hard it was to breathe. I felt like I was drowning whenever I was on my back. I held onto that air suction tube for dear life every waking moment.
--Speaking of waking, I was kept unconscious for six days. After that, I guess my body had had enough of sleep and I hardly slept at all the next four days in the hospital and the next four days after discharge.
--It really hurt to try lying on my side. Took a full two months before I could do it successfully. I sure wish I had a recliner!
--I was loopy for a long time, longer than I'd like to admit. Embarrassingly loopy.
--Ice chips, for the win! They also let me have this Italian ice thingy that was kind of like ice cream. Sooooooo good!
--The hospital discharge instructions took almost 10 minutes to relay. I insisted on recording the audio using my cellphone. Did I mention I was loopy? How could I remember all that information?
--My insurance plan did not provide an in-home caregiver to help me with daily tasks like bathing, dressing, cooking meals, grocery shopping. I had to pay out of pocket for that.
--Since I had no heart disease, I was sent to a geneticist on the hypothesis that I had Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome. Surprised to find out I did. My life expectancy is significantly shorter than I had assumed.
--I couldn't stand to wear a bra the first couple weeks and when I finally had to wear one, it squeezed like a vice (due to swelling of incision)
--A month after surgery, I still felt like roadkill. But two weeks after that, I was almost back to feeling normal. Just had to be patient and let it take its course.
--Six weeks after surgery, I was told that the dissection was systemic and tore a false lumen down my entire aorta, into the tops of my legs, and my left armpit. My life expectancy was shortened even more.
--Every doctor I met with post-op would look at me, look at my chart, look at me and say either, "Wow, you really went through a lot!" or "You're lucky to be alive."
--Three months after surgery (which brings us up to date), I am back at work. Exhausted. But not as badly as I'd feared, which was a very pleasant surprise.
Overall, I'm surprised at how I am holding up psychologically. Given all I went through, I wouldn't have been shocked to find myself going into a depression. Here's the mantra I keep saying, "Do you really want to spend what little time you have left feeling depressed and poor me? You've been given a second chance at life. Take it and embrace it! And make sure you go to Harry Potter World soon rather than saving it for 'someday'!"
I hope my post has helped someone here.
