Second chances

[pellicle]

Back when I was 28 and had my valve changed out for someone else's I considered death carefully. I thought it quite unlikely but was determined to go in to surgery "at peace". Back then I was also a student of martial arts and found wisdom in some of the ideas of Bushido. The fact is we are all dying, it is how we live not that we may die that defines us.

I read this this morning and wanted to share the story. I encourage all to read this story (not heart related) and listen perhaps to the podcasr, and try to see it all as a second chance, a way to live life differently. Better.

http://www.abc.net.au/radionational...ath-experience-changes-a-surfers-life/6846164

Don't let stuff get in the way of being who you can be.

Best Wishes

 

[QuincyRunner]

Amen and Amen. Thanks for the posting and reminder, Pellicle. Those of us with replacement valves have been blessed with a second chance. Keeping that alway on my mind and endeavoring to be a better person is my life-long challenge and joy.

 

[MrsBray]

With my second chance I've grown closer to God, paid off ALL my debts, gone back to school, and become a much nicer person. There's a reason I'm still here...waiting to find out what the reason is.

 

[ottagal]

Thanks for sharing, Pellicle. This story resonates for so many different reasons.

 

[epstns]

From my own experience in the days after valve replacement, I can truly say that it is not a good thing to see your own monitor go "flat-line." I know - I watched it happen to me. Once I was revived, I was told how lucky I had been. My cardiac arrest took place in the cardiac intensive care unit of a major big-city hospital. I was hooked to all the monitors when it happened, so they were right there. At one moment I was looking up at the ceiling, the next moment all went black. Then the next thing I saw was a ring of very concerned looking faces all around me. This was really a life-changing event for me.

I cannot say that I have turned a new leaf and become the nicer, kinder version of the man I was, but I can say that I am a calmer version. I no longer get all worked up about small meaningless (to me) things, and I have become much more tolerant of the differences between all of us. I think I like the "new" me more than the old, but only time will tell if I have made more of a positive impact on the world for still being here in it.

I also know some of what the post-op depression can feel like. I, like many, had just the most minor bouts with it, and I can truly sympathize with those who are more profoundly affected by it. I think we, as valve patients, can often get through that depression more safely because our surgeries are most often planned, and we can prepare for the likelihood of mood swings post-op. I doubt that heart attack patients have this luxury.

I think the article does a good job at underscoring the fact that surviving any major heart event does give us, the patients, the sense that we are being granted a second chance to make of life what we can.

 

[David W]

Great article.

 

[dreamwarrior13]

When I found out I needed open heart surgery, I was so frightened out of my mind that I had myself pretty much convinced that I probably WOULD die, even though everyone kept reminding me the chance of it was pretty low. Obviously now I know better.

Going under the knife believing that though, and then waking up on the other side of it and realizing I'd survived -- and being overwhelmingly relieved at that knowledge -- was my second chance. Not just at life -- I was on the verge of critical by the time I got my operation -- but at living. I never realized how much I wanted to live until then. Now I remember that feeling any time I feel like throwing in the towel.

Thanks for sharing, that story was a great reminder for me of that invaluable lesson.