Next Step

I will definitely be having open-heart surgery to replace the aortic valve. They repeated what I'd been told at the cardiologist's office -- my heart muscle is in good shape, and so is the electrical system. I'm not sure how to correctly refer to the latter. Still, one of the first things the surgeon said to me is, "You have interesting pictures of your heart." I think they're a bit baffled that the rest of my heart is so good, but just this one problem (as far as they can tell). They've requested a catheterization to make sure I don't need bypasses. However, they don't think I will because the heart muscle is so good and strong. My blood pressure was good that day too. The trans-catheter method is not ideal for me because of my age, and few insurance companies approve it for people unless they're high risk for open-heart surgery. I won't have physical therapy until 4-5 weeks post-surgery, but he wants me up walking around and even riding the recumbent bike as soon as possible. He doesn't want me to lie around and vegetate.

The thought occurred to me the other day that God held this off until I could get the weight off and get more physically fit. He was preparing me for this!

While I am still nervous, I am feeling better about it.