Sheepdog,
Glad to hear you are doing fine so far. When you are able to post or your brother is, we'd appreciate further updates. Keeping you in our prayers. When someone knows something, please let us know. Now it's time for a bunch of "Post Surgery" threads... so long "Pre Surgery"...
I'm jealous, I didn't have time to prepare, but then again, I probably would have driven Laura and the kids crazy with my anxiety over the whole thing had I known (and worried) about the failing mitral valve chordae tendineae and a planned OHS. Perhaps it may have been better for both my and my family's emotional health that it was a surprise. Since then, however, coming to this group has been a Godsend. It sure has made the btrs more bearable, knowing that there are others who have gone through the exact same thing I did. When you feel better, please post, even if it's just a sentence or two--that is if you feel capable of doing so. We all realize it may be more than you can handle at this point, and that even your train of thought may drift during the writing (all those 'good' pain drugs you're taking) so we understand if you don't wish to even get near a computer for a week or two--and your brother may post for you in the mean time. I know. I tried to write some emails to some friends about 10 days after surgery, and now their content looks a bit goofy to me now.
Yes, it's true, as Laura said in the previous post, I had plenty of books to read at the hospital, but I simply had no desire to read, as my brain simply felt too out of it. Yes, the ability remained, just not the interest. Going over the post surgical instructions was about all I could handle. Even television was best taken in short bursts--I can't recall now any of the TV shows I watched at the hospital--except the informational video I had to watch about doing stuff at home like getting into and out of bed post surgery. Desire to read returned in time--I like to read good books again now.
Take care and God bless,
Chris
