Since my dad's open heart surgery somehow came up in conversation in a hot tub last night, and since I just watched a Nova episode on the electrical system of the heart, I figured I'd talk about my dad's heart surgery, something that rarely crosses my mind.
I'm honestly not too knowledgeable on what exactly happened, it's not something I bring up much to ask about, but about seventeen-and-a-half years ago my dad underwent open heart surgery. He had to have a metal ring placed into a collapsed vein or something. On the rare occasion he sets off metal detectors walking into stores :-). So at the time I was four years old and clueless, which now I greatly appreciate. Even with today's extraordinary technology, no one ever wants to have open heart surgery - it's scary and can be quite risky. I would probably not be doing too well if someone I knew had to have it today. So rewind 17+ years ago and, even as advanced as the technology was back then, it's all that much scarier.
At the time I thought, if anything, it was a cool experience. I only remember visiting my dad at the hospital once, not sure if it was before or after the surgery. He was watching the Phillies and wearing those sweet red socks with the rubber grips on the bottom...I wanted them. The only thing that served/serves as a reminder of the surgery to me was the scar on his chest. It was a big scar, a manly scar, a scar to be proud of. I always thought it was the coolest thing. And my dad had a breathing apparatus where you have to make ping-pong type balls rise to the tops of their tubes by inhaling really hard on another tube, each ball heavier than the next. Somehow it was supposed to help his recovery. I loved that thing, thought it was a toy and used it myself. He gave it to me to keep when he didn't need it anymore.
I'm guessing my middle brother wasn't too effected by the event either, being 7, but my oldest brother at 9 may have been, I don't know. I can't imagine how my mom felt, not only because of the deep concern for the well being of her husband and the risk of the surgery, but also the money. I know we have at least halfway decent medical insurance, but no surgery is cheap, not even a routine one like pulling my wisdom teeth - about $2600 if I remember. Open heart surgery? A LOT more. And chances are after something like that you're gonna be rather afraid to spend money on anything non-essential, doing lots of fun things, now that you realize that life isn't so comfortable and something very bad can happen at any moment, taking money from the bank.
I wonder how my life may be different had nothing gone wrong with his heart. Until last night if you would have asked me when his surgery was I would've said '93 or '94, with moderate confidence. But last night my friend, who is only four days older than me, told me with complete confidence that my dad's surgery was in '93. I gave him the hairy eyeball and a raised brow. Apparently his dad frequently talks about how my dad said that going through the surgery and recovery in the hospital was made much more bearable because he was able to watch the Phillies when they were in the '93 World Series. I never realized that. Is it any wonder why I am the Phillies fan that I am? Haha.
Incidentally as I watched the show on Nova tonight with my dad, I knew he'd be interested, one of the doctors was talking about a certain heart condition and said something like, "Something shocking, even something like closing the door a little too loudly, can cause someone instant death." ...my dad started laughing and said, "I guess I should stop scaring my students!" I'm glad he's alive.
