Heartaches

We have learned a lot about hearts this past year. As we head toward Valentine's Day, there is a lot of emphasis on hearts. But many of the events connected with this special day are far from the events a family experiences when one of their members undergoes heart surgery.

Of course one of the first experiences is fear. The cardiologists are encouraging in their reports, but clearly explain the dangers also. For most of us the idea of cutting into a heart is beyond comprehension. We grow up hearing about heartbreak, but this is entirely different.

Once the decision has been made (that is, in the cases where there is time to consider alternatives) the patient and family are given multiple pieces of literature to explain the process and outline steps to be taken.

This information becomes much clearer when the nurse educator meets with the family while the patient is actually in surgery. She went through the booklet page by page, showed videos of the process from beginning to full recovery at home. In addition she went into the operating room frequently and brought us back reports on the progress. It was a relief when she said that the heart was now back in place and doing its own work.

Probably the hardest part of the whole process is the time that the patient is in Intensive Care and the loved ones are sitting in the uncomfortable chairs in the ICU waiting room. As we sit out the four-hour intervals between visits we learn about the other families who are also waiting. When a nurse calls one family out of the room the others wait in suspense to see if it is good news or bad news they are receiving.

In the meantime the patient is in and out of awareness and plagued with nightmares and discomfort as the body responds to the trauma it has endured.

But as all things do, this too passes, and the family can be with the patient in the cheery rooms with the attentive nurses and aids helping everyone learn more and more about this wonderful organ in each of our chests.

With the removal of each tube, and each stitch, things become more and more normal until it is time to go home. That's a wonderful feeling, but also very scary because help is not just down the hall, but down the road.

The Home Health nurses eased that transition and a little later the nurses in the Cardiac ReHab gave more support. And through it all, the local doctor that gave advice at the beginning of this journey, is also there for each stage of the trip.

Another milestone is passed when the surgeon no longer needs to see the patient but the visiting cardiologist takes over right here in Nevada. When he says that he doesn't need to make another appointment for six months then we all rejoice.

My thanks go out to the dozens of people who made this Valentine's Day one to celebrate with all my heart. Dozens probably won't even cover the number of those involved. So many people -- at the Joplin hospital, here at the clinic and our Nevada Regional Medical Center, visitors, card senders, those who called and family members who were front and center through it all -- were involved that it must reach 100 at least.

Happy Valentine's Day to those who care for our hearts.