Finally a posting

Dear Friends,
Thank you for all the emails, cards etc that I received from you all showing your concern. Judith HeartSong made me a card that is a work of art, so lovely. The first few days were going swimmingly (under those circumstances) but then they told me that the surgery had caused me to have "heart block". Never heard of that but I had an auxiliary pacemaker which was doing all the work. The surgery I had can traumatize the heart through the swelling especially and leave you with this condition permanently. They thought I would need a pacemaker before leaving the hospital. The initial surgery was very difficult but the surgeon believes it will be successful. It will take six months to know for certain. After a few more days the heart block seemed to have resolved itself and they were able to turn the pacemaker to back up only with an alarm set. We were all thinking that we had escaped another surgery for me and were thrilled. Over the next few days I developed some slowing down of the heart rhythm and they once again became concerned. Just when they thought I was out of the woods totally I had a "pause" in the heart. My heart stopped beating for over five seconds and I was rushed into ICU to be closely monitored. I was conscious the entire time and it was unpleasant, feeling like I was fighting to remain conscious. Rob was allowed to spend the night in ICU with me and I was so relieved about that. I knew if it happened again I would be shocked and I did not look forward to that. My heart straightened itself out and two days later I was released to the step down unit once more. I am home finally.
I am tired and in pain. Imagine having a sternum that was broken not once but twice, wired together and a swollen heart that was removed from your chest, had a piece sawed out of it, replaced with a mechanical piece. I also received a bypass to replace a radiation damaged piece of my coronary artery.
Does it sound like I am complaining? I'm not. When I realized I had survived the surgery, tears of joy ran down my face. More time with those I love. I know that the next few months ahead will be tough but I am hoping and praying to hear late December that my heart is functioning well. Regardless, this was a surgery I had to have. I was in heart failure and it was the only possible fix.
Will write more soon. Thanks for keeping me in your thoughts and prayers. I was counting on you and you didn't let me down.
:)