My operation

This is an illustration of the operation I had done, beginning with the incision made in my chest. Basically the surgeons needed to get access to my heart, and the way we chose to do it was by the frontal incision you see here. There is a neat scar from just below where my throat ends to just underneath my sternum. Once the chest is opened the sternum is cracked, (sawn?), and the ribs spread. The internal organs are moved around, and the heart is exposed for the operation.

I say "we" chose this because we had discussions with the surgeons before the operation about how it could be done. There is an alternative method that involves "keyhole" type surgery from the side. Post-operatively the results are much better as there is less trauma to the body. However, the surgical outcomes in terms of repair and complications may not be so good. We figured I was young and fit enough that I would prefer the better chance of a full repair and I'd fight my way through the recovery after.

I believe a major factor in my recovery is that I felt engaged and fully trusted the surgical team. I'll come back to this in a later post because this is a major learning for me and my clients in terms of self-efficacy. We do well because we believe we can do well, and there are clear paths to improving what we believe about our abilities.

The day before the major operation I had a angiograph...one of the procedures where they knock you out and put a catheter into your heart from the artery in your leg. Then they flood the heart with dye and check out the health of the blood vessels. Bingo! I have the heart of an ox, and despite the occassional beer, wine and plate of fish and chips everything was clean and healthy.


This is an illustration of the work done in the heart. It was cut open to reveal the mitral valve between the two left heart chambers. In my condition the valve wasn't closing properly, so if I understand correctly about 40% of each pump went back up the heart instead of into the body. This was causing my upper atrium to expand, and limiting the oxygen my muscles were getting.

The damage to the upper atrium isn't permanent, but would have become permanent if this had gone on.

After the repair I was moved to ICU where I was on ventilation and a heart pacemaker. For the next two days I had IV drips in my arms, two drainage tubes from my chest attached to a portable "suction" machine, and the electrical lines for the pacemaker still buried into my heart "just in case".

For more on my recovery click here.