I am 60 y.o. I was in good shape leading up to this and it was kind of astonishing to find out everything I had going on between July 22 and August 12th. I had been dealing with the discovery of the aneurysm since Oct 31, 2023. The ICU staff were excellent. When I woke up, I felt like I had been hit by a freight train. Of course I didn't know about the OR drama until sometime later. I came out of surgery at 10pm Tuesday and sometime Wed the ICU staff had me up walking for 200 steps with 4 wires, 3 tubes, swan etc. still attached. I was able to stand by myself using my leg strength even though a bit unsteady. I exceeded the daily recommended number of steps each day I was in ICU and the sept down unit. One of my family was there most of the time. I had no interest in TV and never turned it on. It took me about 3 days to even try and read texts. I think after 2 days I did talk briefly on the phone to 2 people for about 5 minutes each and talking that little was exhausting. Recovery went well in the hospital even with the extensive surgery. It was a challenge. The heparin shots in the abdomen every 6 hours was one of the minor inconveniences. Pulling out the 4 wires and later the tubes was an experience. The look on my wife's face when they pulled the swan out of my neck was priceless. However, laughing hurt. I know how Apollo Creed felt in the 15th round against Rocky anytime I sneezed, laughed or coughed. Don't even mention hiccups. There were people on the cardiac stepdown unit that had been there for weeks and even months in some cases waiting for a transplant which motivated me somewhat because I realized things can always be worse. Eating was difficult. I mostly ate fruit. Everything else had weird texture and taste due to the 27 hours of being under anesthesia. It took 2 months for things to start tasting o.k. Then I got the metallic taste for a while. When I got home, I spent a lot of time in the recliner between bouts of walking. I was able to avoid using a stroller. After 2 weeks at a friends, I was able to go home with my 3 Siberian huskies! I used a hiking staff to walk around my property for the first 3 weeks. At about 7 weeks had my legs under me really well and can walk the average person into the sidewalk. I am still working on the upper body strength and that will likely take me until June to be where I want to be. The sternum is the slowest thing to hell and it requires discipline to not do anything stupid. Sneezing still hurts but not as bad as a month ago.