Lessons of an Opening Heart: Thriving after Open-Heart Surgery

By Barbara H. McNeely

Did Barbara need an Open Heart?

Upon learning of Barbara’s upcoming open-heart surgery, Karen told her it was the quickest way to an open heart. This was not the journey that Barbara would have chosen, but it was now her journey.

The surgery itself was just one part of Barbara’s journey through a

• Language: English
• Publisher: Porcchetta Publishing
• Release date: May 22, 2017
• ISBN: 9780998163925

Barbara H. McNeely

Barbara H. McNeely learned to love science in seventh grade from a teacher whose love of science was contagious. In college, she majored in biology and then worked in research for several years. Her curiosity about health and wellness led her to study more about it. She has been blogging for several years now, primarily on health topics and her own health issues. Little did she know that she would need all of that knowledge for her own health crisis. Barbara has always loved music and has so many song lyrics in her head that they crowd out important information. Recently, she realized that a word or phrase, either spoken or though, could bring to mind a song lyric using that word or phrase. She now refers to this talent as Magic DeeJay. To learn more about Magic DeeJay, visit Barbara.McNeely.com/MagicDeeJay. Barbara lives in San Antonio, Texas with her husband, Dick, and her two cats, Ronnie and Nancy. You can find her online at BarbaraMcNeely.com and MariposaNaturals.com.

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Lessons of an Opening Heart

Thriving after open-heart surgery

Barbara H. McNeely

Porcchetta Publishing

SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS

Copyright © 2017 by Barbara H. McNeely.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, including but not limited to information storage and retrieval systems, electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, etc without the prior written permission of the publisher. For permission requests, write to the publisher, at the address below.

Porcchetta Publishing

P.O. 591003

San Antonio, TX 78259-1003

www.Porcchetta.com

Disclaimer: The content in this book is not intended as a substitute for medical or professional advice. Readers are encouraged to consult their physician on all health matters, especially symptoms that may require professional diagnosis or medical attention.

Book Editing by Jan Ware Russell PhD contact: 937-303-6849

Quote from A Trip Around the Sun by Mark Batterson, Richard Foth, and Susanna Both Aughtmon, © 2015 by Mark Batterson, Richard Foth, and Susanna Both Aughtmon. Baker Books. Used by permission.

Lessons of an Opening Heart / Barbara H. McNeely. -- 1st ed.

ISBN 978-0-9981639-2-5

Contents

And So It Begins 1

Making Other Plans ... 11

Healing 17

S.O.B. 23

Conquering Stairs 27

Emotions 33

For Girls Only 37

Stuff Happens 41

The Amazing Human Body 45

Helpful Things 51

A Real Getaway 55

What I Would Do Differently 61

Keep Moving 65

No Two People 71

Best of Both Worlds 79

One Year Later 81

What’s Next? 85

An Open Heart 87

Acknowledgements 93

About the Author 95

To my husband, Dick McNeely. Without him, I might not have been here to write this book.

Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards.

--Søren Kierkegaard

And So It Begins

F

riday, May 22nd, 2015:

My alarm clock goes off at the unthinkable hour of 4:00 AM. Once I’ve showered, there isn’t much to do but wait on my husband. While I am waiting the only thing I can do is think. Suddenly, it all becomes too real to me. Until now, it had all been theoretical. The moment facing me becomes so scary.

While I wait, I play Mannheim Steamroller’s Come Home to the Sea on repeat. This instrumental song always has a calming and centering effect on me. I certainly need that now! Earlier in the week, Magic DeeJay (the music I hear in my head) was playing I Will Survive over and over. Appropriately, playing in my head last night was Elton John’s Someone Saved My Life Tonight. This morning there is no music and there’s so much silence to be filled! Everything is silent…no music, no thoughts, no words.

By 5 AM, we are in the car. It’s a short drive at this time of day, yet it seems an eternity. To fill the silence, I play Dave Brubeck’s Take Five on repeat - another song without words.

Too soon, we arrive at our destination. I’m whisked off to room number three, told to remove everything, and an IV is started. They take blood to check my blood type. This was done in a pre-op checkup earlier in the week, but they want to be sure. I’m okay with this since there’s a 40 percent chance that I’ll need blood. I have now surrendered control of my body to the staff at the hospital - at least until I am out of ICU (intensive care unit).

There’s a white board in my room with a sign above it that says, Welcome to Outpatient Surgery. I find that funny since I think of outpatient surgery as the type where you go home the same day. I have been told that I will be here for anywhere from three to seven days. A nurse explains that outpatient surgery is a term for any individual not already in the hospital’s care.

Soon I am wheeled out of room number three and down several halls to a holding room that feels more like a storage area. My husband and I are