My Aortic Adventure

Before open-heart surgery, I did some planning for the space that I would use for recovery.    I had to figure out what I wanted my living situation to look like when I returned home from the hospital.  I wanted to make sure that when I got home, everything I needed would be accessible, functional, and set-up to promote healing.  In the few days before my operation, I made some of these changes, but it wasn’t until I lived through this process that I understood what was truly important.  Here are some of the considerations to make before heading into a major procedure like this. Ready to head home from my open heart surgery The key here is to think ahead and take on as many of the necessary tasks before surgery so that when you come home, they are not a concern.  Where is your bedroom? During the time of my surgery (and still today), I was living in a basement apartment.  This proposed two issues.  First, this meant that I would need to wal...

If I had to classify rock climbing, I would call it both a passion and a lifestyle.  It is hard to say that rock climbing is a sport, since the only person you are competing against is yourself and the only rules are the ones you accept as important.  Sure, it is an intense activity that involves both mental and physical training,  but it is more than that.  When many people are asked the standard "what do you do" question, they answer with the title they hold 40 hours a week or the product they produce in exchange for money.  If I am asked the standard "what do you do" question, my primary response is: "I climb." Me, before surgery,  climbing in Shelf Road, CO. Photo by Michelle Christiance  When climbing is such a major part of your identity, it is hard to have an impending surgical procedure on the horizon that is going to put you out of commission.  I did not realize this until last year.  After an initial check-up, where my cardiolo...

When receiving an open heart surgery, there are certain milestones that are essential to recovery.  For me, the five-week-check-up with my surgeon was the biggest milestone I was looking forward to.  For the first five weeks after surgery, I had many restrictions: I could not drive, swim, bike, or lift more than 10lbs, to name a few.  This appointment was so important to me because I knew that some of these restrictions would finally be lifted. As I sat down with Doctor Miler, I was excited.  I knew that I would finally start working back toward my usual activities.  The first good news was that I had made big steps in the healing process of my sternum. According to my doc, at week five, I was 90% healed and could no longer do much to injure my chest.  This was great to hear.  After surgery, I had been walking around in a very guarded manner, as if my chest could break apart with the slightest impact.  I could finally relax. With this great ne...