7 years ago today I woke up groggy - barely aware of my surroundings in an Abbott Northwestern Intensive Care room. A few short months early I had an Echo-cardiogram that showed severe leakage in my mitral valve. I had been dealing with this "mitral valve prolapse" for about 12 years and had been told it was never anything to worry about. Take your antibiotics before going to the dentist and that's about it. The problem is, that in my case, the leak got worse. In fact I was told it was a 5+ on a scale of 1-5 and was recommended to have surgery within 90 days. The concern for time being that when blood leaks back through the wrong way it can enlarge your heart chamber and some day lead to congestive heart failure and a very shortened life. It's also dangerous to operate on if you want to long with the heart being in a weakened state.
I went on my last labored run the day before my surgery on Monday, October 21st, 2002. I had picked up running again in that past year or so but after running for 1-2 years was feeling no progress and I was constantly tired. In fact I'd often come home from work at 5PM and be ready for bed. Wasn't working out supposed to ultimately give me more energy? I now knew why it didn't.
Through a fortunate turn of events I ended up with Dr. Vib Kshettry, who at the time was performing hundreds of valve repair surgerys per year. Now that's experience!
The morning of October 22, 2002 I woke way before the crack of dawn in order to get to the hospital in time for the pre-op routine. I still remember the anesthesiologist asking me if I drank much to which I said not much and he replied "this is going to be your new favorite drink". Not long after that my memory goes blank. I don't remember the rest of pre-op and certainly don't remember being wheeled down the hall into the operating room.
I DO remember waking up later that afternoon feeling tired, sick, groggy and sore. The surgery was a huge success and to this day I still have the scar down the middle of my chest to verify my experience. Sometimes I tell people it's an ax wound but so far no one has believed it. It has faded quite a bit but my thankfulness has not.
About 6 months after surgery I ran my first 5K and finished around 33 minutes. The greatest accomplishment was running the 3.1 miles with no walking stops. When you fight through weeks of cardiac rehab where lifting a 1 pound weight or just walking down the hall 100 feet is tiring, then you will know what I mean! Sometimes I still feel like my lungs never fully recovered from being deflated for those couple hours while I was under. Or maybe I just need to learn how to breathe better.
One thing I know for sure - and all that really matters is I AM breathing. And running. And loving. And living.
Happy Running & Dirty Feet,
Jessica
Yay for wonderful cardiologists and cardiac surgeons! Our son had closed heart surgery when he was one and I am thankful every day. I hope that I can slide through life without having my leaky valve go bad - right now it's at moderate leakage. Glad all is well and you are healthy!
Posted by: backofpack | 22 October 2009 at 01:28 PM
It sounds like you've made good use of that heart and the second lease on life you were given.
Posted by: Anne | 22 October 2009 at 03:45 PM
You mean it's not an ax wound?
Happy anniversary! Thanks for sharing your story.
By the way, my mom had the same surgery. Her leaking mitral valve was caused by a thick septum. The cardiologist said it was hereditary and that I should get an echo-gram. I did and thankfully it was nominal.
Posted by: Tom | 22 October 2009 at 10:10 PM