Tom's Profile

I was diagnosed with aortic valve stenosis in December of 2016. This came as a shock to me since I had never had any heart issues in the past at least that I was aware of. At this point I didn't feel symptomatic. A few months later I started getting some chest pains. I received a cardiac catheterization on June 2 and learned I also need a quadruple bypass as well. I had my surgery on June 20, 2017 and it went great. I am now into my 5th week post surgery and am slowly getting stronger. The only issue I had was an infection in my leg where they harvested the vein for my bypass grafts. That was a miserable time, I had to go back to the emergency room twice after being released, because my surgeon was concerned about blood clots. The infection was a huge cause of pain for me. It bothered me worse than the heart surgery. After a change in the antibiotics the infection was handled. I start my cardiac rehab this Monday, 7/31/17. I'm progressing fairly well so far. My wife played a huge role in my surgery and recovery. The hospital allowed her to stay overnight in my room for my entire 6 day stay. That in itself doesn't sound like much but it helped me quite a bit. I have learned that the road to recovery is a long one and not to be in a hurry to get it completed. You must be patient and allow the healing and process to happen.