Ten years ago today I remember being wheeled to the doors of the operating room. I woke up in the ccu about 9 hours later on a ventilator. During a 6 hour surgery my surgeon replaced my ascending aorta, my aortic valve and aortic root with a St Jude grafted valve. All went well. I was in ccu less than 24 hours and in the hospital a week. I was discharged on Mother’s Day—a day I will never forget. There have been a few bumps along the way—-upper lobe of right lung removed 3 years ago due to cancer (never smoked a day in my life)—-endocarditis last year spent a week in the hospital and 6 weeks on IV antibiotics and the rest of the year spent recovering. But the good news is that I feel great now. Life is good. Each day is a gift.
