The Barbara Walters special, "A Matter of Life and Death"

Cliff and I watched this Barbara Walters special with interest:  After all, it was about famous people who have had open heart surgery.  We wanted to hear what they had to say about this procedure that Cliff went through almost five years ago.  
If you missed the show, you can go HERE to see some snippets of the interviews with Bill Clinton, David Letterman, Robin Williams, Regis Philbin, and Charlie Rose.  Here are some quotes:  
"I realized there was really no alternative, if I wanted to live, I had to do this." 
-- President Bill Clinton
"I would find myself busting into tears and sobbing uncontrollably." 
-- David Letterman
"... stop the heart, work on it, restart it ... good luck." 
-- Robin Williams
"They're going to put him on a gurney, roll him into the OR room and bust him open like a lobster." 
-- Regis Philbin  

"It was hell." 

-- Charlie Rose

There was one thing Cliff and I couldn't understand:  Both Barbara Walters and David Letterman said they didn't have pain after the surgery.  Maybe they were on morphine longer, because trust me, Cliff had lots of pain for quite a while.  So did everyone I've met who has had this type surgery.  I know one man personally who says if he is ever told he needs open heart surgery again, he'll choose death.  I asked Cliff which choice he would make if he needed it again: he thought hard, but didn't answer.  I can tell you that if I were still kicking and he had to make that choice, he'd choose life, because he's always felt his job in life is to take care of me; concern for me would make him go through the pain.  I am as certain of this as I can be.  I know him well.  
  

All these famous folks talked about the unbelievable weakness after surgery, and we could relate to that.  Cliff was doing well to walk across a room when he first came home from the hospital.  

I found it interesting that Bill Clinton has become a vegetarian.  As a result, he's gotten so thin that people often think he's sick.  He joked about the fact that since he now has a cow valve in his heart, maybe that's why he can't eat meat.   

Barbara Walters always does great interviews.  This was a topic close to our hearts, in more ways than one.  I loved this special.

We never know what tomorrow will bring

In the early days of my working for Kohl's, back before all that walking on concrete totally finished off my knees, I loved the job. We worked in pairs, and at that time we were allowed to partner up with anyone we chose. That's me and my partner, Judy, in the picture. We worked at about the same pace and got a lot of work done.

Another former co-worker, Jessica, is a Facebook friend; she keeps in touch with Judy, and when I signed onto Facebook this morning I had this message awaiting me:

Hi Donna! I wanted to let you know some bad news about Judy. She was shopping with her husband yesterday and she felt tired and weak so he took her to the doctor. They sent her to the ER right away and found she was having an issue with her heart. She was having symptoms of a heart attack. They did testing and found she has 80 and 20% blockage and it's too close to her heart to do a stent. She went for more testing today and they also found she has calcification (sorry I'm a bad speller) on her aorta, and the flap on her heart is leaking blood. The doctor said all those things can be corrected with open heart surgery, but the calcification is very serious. He said the chance of her having a stroke while they remove the calcification is 85%. She is at (name and location of hospital) and the Dr. told her he knows a Dr. in Texas who does this kind of surgery every day and if she was his mom he would want her to go there. Her Dr. is going to try to schedule an appointment next week and if the doctor in Dallas is available she will fly there Monday for preperations for the surgery.

Judy is younger than I; when we worked together, she had some problems with her blood pressure, but finally got that all straightened out.

When the doctor discovered Cliff's heart problems and wouldn't even clear him to drive the car from his offices on the hospital, I thought that was a worst-case scenario. Now I can see how much worse it could have been! At least his problems were repaired within two days because an excellent surgeon made the time for his operation. Judy is going to have to travel to Texas for surgery, and even with the renowned doctor down there, it sounds like the risk is high.

I'm sharing this for two reasons: First of all, I know Judy would appreciate any prayers and good thoughts on her behalf. Secondly, to remind us all that we are never guaranteed our next breath; seize this moment.

A voice from the past

Cliff's open heart surgery was performed almost three years ago. When he entered the hospital, one of the first people he met was a fellow who was almost ready to graduate from his respiratory therapy classes. Or whatever. The guy's name was Mike. He explained to Cliff how to use the incentive spirometer.

Cliff's heart surgeon, Dr. Gallion, asked Mike if he'd like to watch Cliff's surgery, and Mike gladly took him up on the offer.

Speaking of Dr. Gallion, we have yet to find any doctor, nurse or patient of his who has anything but good to say about him. Cliff has decided the man must walk on water. But I digress.

I think we only dealt with Mike for a couple of days, but he and I exchanged email addresses. Every once in awhile, he'd email me and ask, "How's Cliff doing?"

Because after all, he had actually seen Cliff's heart exposed. Something even I, Cliff's wife of many, many years, have never seen. Even though I OWN his heart.

Then came Facebook: somehow I met up with Mike there, and "friended" him.

Today he and I had a twenty-minute-or-so IM on Facebook. He has plans of going on to becoming an ER nurse. More power to him. We discussed his smoking (he still does... a respiratory theripist!), his recent marriage, and the state of everybody's health: Cliff and I are doing fine; Mike had a kidney stone, pnuemonia, and the flu this past winter.

I'm only telling all this to once again bring your attention to the wonders of the Internet. One of the few people in the world who actually saw Cliff's heart beating, live and in person, can still contact me and ask, "How's Cliff doing?"

And that's another thing I love about the Internet.

I copied and printed my whole conversation with Mike, so Cliff could read it.

And I now, once again, thank God, my friend Joanna (who suggested Cliff's indigestion might be heart trouble), the nurse-practitioner who caught his heart problem, and the almost divine Dr. Gallion. And even a respiratory theripist who smokes, for caring how Cliff is doing.

This amazing Internet world

My daughter lured me onto Facebook with those silly time-wasting applications like MyFarm and YoVille. I've collected friends there: several relatives, and relatives of relatives; a few local folks that I barely know, but hey... I need friends. Oh, and lots of Blogger buddies.

On Facebook, the word "friend" is pretty broad in its meaning.

But then there's this one unique friend. I'm not sure how we connected on Facebook. Probably via the email connection. But this is a man who has seen my husband's heart beating. Really! Mike was Cliff's respiratory therapist at the time of his surgery; and for some reason, Cliff's surgeon invited him to watch the open heart surgery. Mike told me it was an awesome experience, and gave me his email address so he could follow Cliff's progress.

One thing bothers me. Back in April of 2006, Mike smoked. It was disturbing to me that a respiratory therapist would do that to his body, but what do I know?

I can't help wondering if he's kicked the habit. I certainly hope so, because anybody who has seen my husband's heart beat is special. You've seen one very personal part of Cliff that I will never see.

What say you, Mike? You just got married. Have you kicked the habit so that you can live a long, healthy life with your lovely wife?

Cliff's heart surgery

We're approaching the one-year anniversary of Cliff's four-way bypass open heart surgery. Our lives will never be the same as before. Trust me on this.

We already realized our time on earth was short, but this confirmed it. We had already agreed between us that time is more precious than money. But we didn't really know it in our bones until the fateful day of Cliff's surgery.

Cliff never works overtime now when it's offered. Even though he'd be making over $30 an hour. Because money isn't that important. If he suggests that he might work overtime, I remind him, "You'll be sorry". And he agrees, once again, that time is more important than money.

I do everything in my power to keep his diet healthy. In fact, at our last visit to his cardiologist we were asked why he was losing weight.

"Weight watchers?" the nurse asked.

"Nope," I answered, pointing to myself. "Me watcher."

"Then I wish you'd come and help some of our other patients," she said, smiling.

And she told me about one lady, living alone, who had her heart bypass a year ago.

"She's worse now than she was before surgery," the nurse said. "She lives alone and won't walk, and has basically given up."

She and the doctor shared with us how most patients refuse to quit smoking, refuse to exercise, and refuse to eat properly.

Cliff and I walk a half-hour every day in the pasture. He works out in the weight room at work, on his break-time. He is determined to stay healthy. And I'm determined to keep him that way, as long as I can.

I am now so thankful that I insisted we re-finance the place so he could build his shop, because that's where he spends most of his time when he isn't working or sleeping; he loves it.

I'm so thankful that I insisted he get XM radio, although he didn't have a clue what it was when I suggested it. Because now he can listen exclusively to the kind of music he enjoys (with no commercials), and he loves every minute of it. (And I'm thankful that our son helped me figure out how to get it.)

I'm thankful that I urged him to buy that Honda Gold Wing he wanted so badly, because it was such a big incentive in his recovery... and the number one reason he started working out after his surgery. He wanted to have the strength to handle it again.

I'm glad I talked him into trying a different, more expensive type of hearing aid. Because now he isn't left out of conversations, and he isn't treated as though he's retarded just because he can't hear.

I want you all to remember than life is short. If you can help someone you love achieve their dreams and pursue happiness, do it now. Tomorrow isn't guaranteed.

If you'd like to see the start of Cliff's heart surgery adventure, click HERE. If you want to go through the whole operation and aftermath, just click on the upper right-hand portion of the entry where it says "Wednesday, April 19", then to the next post and the next until you've seen it all. As far as I'm concerned, it's a story of God's grace.

And a wakeup call.