My surgery went really well. The hardest part of the recovery was flying home. In the Rochester airport, the TSA knew I had open heart surgery, because Mayo wrote them a letter saying it was okay for me to fly AND I flew in jammies and slippers. They made me lift my hands over my head in the circular air thingy and that hurt. Other than a slow but steady recovery, I felt great within a month post surgery and today I feel like I used to feel as a teenager. Full of energy, never dizzy, weak or feeling faint. The surgery was a huge success for me.

For anyone thinking about it, one problem I had at Mayo was I lost my taste for food. They said that is not uncommon. I ate, but I couldn't taste anything. At home I started to lose weight too fast in the first couple of weeks. So, I called them. They were terrific and recommended Ensure and that's what I did. Then we knew I had the nutrition to help me heal. Within weeks, I started tasting things slowly and suddenly, that whole thing was gone, and I was back to eating. I keep Ensure (I think there is a Boost too) in the frig in case I need something extra (which never really happens). This surgery gave me back my life.