Open Hearts Club

Everett's Surgery story:

I have officially become a certified member of a very special family club. We are the Open Hearts Club. I am one of several people in my family who have had to have open heart surgery. Here is my story:

On the day of the surgery we woke up really early and came to the Hospital. Here I am, happy, yet hungry, and clueless as to what is about to happen to me. Mom is just holding me, and people are checking my temperature and blood pressure and listening to my heart. So Far it isn't too bad. See, I can even smile for Dad.Then I got really sleepy, so they wrapped me up in a warm blanket and I snoozed for a bit. Mom and Dad talked with some doctors while I slept, then we all walked down a big hallway and I had to say "bye" to Mom and Dad. They cried a bit and handed me to the doctor. I went into a room where they put a mask on me and before I knew anything I was asleep.

I don't remember anything about the next few hours. Mom says I was gone for 6 hours before she could see me again. The doctors had to stop my heart 2 times and put multiple patches on it before they decided it was good enough to pump for me. They took me to a place called the ICU, where I was asleep most of the time with nurses caring for me round the clock.
At first I had a breathing tube that was breathing for me. You can see the tape on my face holding it in. Mom said my eyes had a drugged and far away look in them because I was on morphine. There were all sorts of tubes and wires coming out of me. I had an IV in my neck and one on each hand and foot. I had 2 tubes coming out of my chest and 2 wires. They were not very comfortable. Most of the IVs and the breathing tube were taken out the first day. When they moved me to my own room I still had the chest tubes, wires and some IVs. Here I am with Eleanor, but I was not very happy or comfortable.

As each day passed, they took more of the tubes and wires off. I got so I could move around a lot more, and didn't feel so drugged. Mom could hold me, but it was hard to eat with all the tubes on. I was glad the day they took those off, but it hurt pretty bad and I was scared. But then I had a lot more freedom. I was also starting to feel much better. By the end of the week I only had some stickers on me and a big bandage on my cut. I had a glowing light on my foot that measured how much oxygen was in my blood, but it wouldn't work very well when I kicked, and the computer behind me would start ringing alarms all the time. I also got really tired of Nurses coming in to wake me up and give me medicine and take my temperature and blood pressure. I was so happy when we started getting ready to go home. See, I got my smile back.


Now I am home and happy and getting stronger everyday with my new ticker! I still get sore, and mommy has to be careful holding me. I still have to take yucky medicine for a while, but I'm going to be a running like the wind soon. Just try to keep up with me!

Thanks for reading-- Love, Everett.