Randy's Journal

Sorry for no posts from the hospital but posting from my I Phone was tricky for me and my limited tech skills. I must begin with saying I am a truly blessed man. Dr. Chris Malasarie, his surgical team, and entire staff at Northwestern Healthcare in Chicago are an extremely gifted group of individuals that give people like us a second chance at life. I had six hours of surgery Wednesday Feb. 25th to repair my aortic valve and replace the damaged section of my aorta. What better results could I have hoped for. I was in ICU that night and the next morning I was in a chair before sunup eating jello. By 5PM, two chest tubes, the catheter,[whoooo],neck and wrist IV" were were out. I was moved to step down unit and had solid food for dinner. Cardiologist says I am unremarkale. Day two more good news, two more chest tubes out. I can finally breath and I start doing laps around the floor. Day three, the pacemaker comes out because I have zero signs of afib. They do a echo, MRI, and chest x-ray. Everything looks good and I am told I may go home Sunday. Sunday I have a slight droop in my right eyelid, I should have kept my mouth shut but better safe than sorry. Monday afternoon I am home. What a month. I go from a what I thought was a perfectly healthy 54 year old man, to being told I had a 20% chance of suddenly dropping dead within this year. Now being on the downside of major heart surgery with almost no complications. I am truly a blessed man, Was I afraid? More like terrified, and prayer and my faith along with supportive friends and family was the things that got me to the day of surgery and beyond. I feel a little guilty posting such a positive outcome when there a lots of folks out there struggling post op with issues and you all will be in my prayers. I hope those of you with upcoming surgery will find a bit of comfort reading about my outcome and knowing things ultimately work out well the majority of the time. Faith and prayer. it works wonders.