Happy Heart Day Version 2.0

I am having heart surgery again.

There. I said it.

There's really no easy way to tell people news like this. I mean really, this is how a conversation goes:

"Hey Abby, haven't talked to you in a while? How are things going?
Hey there! Things are going good... just waiting for school to start... it's my last semester of grad school... yes, I'm so excited to finish... oh yeah, I'm going to have heart surgery something this semester. How are things with you?

Awkward. I know.

My mom and I had a great visit to the Cleveland Clinic back at the beginning of December. We enjoyed a few days of touristy events, including seeing one of the Great Lakes (Lake Erie) and making the best decision of our life to skip the Biggest Loser Finale in favor of seeing Wicked. Seriously, if you ever have the chance to see it, DO NOT PASS IT UP. Such a great experience and I can't stop signing the soundtrack now. And you may call me crazy, but I think I want "Defy Gravity" to be my 2010 theme. If you haven't seen it, you just won't understand. Sorry!

It's hard to describe the Cleveland Clinic. We heard from others how serving they were and very attentive to patients, but I don't think we were really expecting it. But then, my mom had a Chai Tea Latte with her and needed to warm it up. She looked around for a microwave and couldn't find one and asked a concierge member if they had one. He also looked around for a public one and couldn't find it. We sat down and were waiting for the Echo tech to call me back, when about 5 minutes later he walks up to my mom and says he has found a microwave. He takes her Chai and personally heated it up for her. {Note: typically we would not just let strange men take our Chai and warm them up.. he seemed safe though:) } Definitely not the typical service you get at most clinics!

The main reason we loved the Cleveland Clinic (besides how helpful they were and that they're #1 in heart and heart surgeries in the US) was the fact that they looked at me not only as a heart patient, but as a pregnant heart patient. They were already concerned with my safety and with the baby's safety (which is funny to tell to several people because there's not actually a baby right now). They believe that for me to have the safest pregnancy possibly, I will need to go ahead and have surgery to replace the valve. I plan on doing another post to fully explain my condition is easy to understand terms, which makes the surgery easier to understand.

Currently we are hoping that I will be able to have the surgery the second week of March. This will allow me enough time to recuperate before graduation in May (I WILL graduate this semester, I can't handle more grad school!), to enjoy all of the wedding activities for Nathan and Kaitlan, and to be back at work before my coworker goes on maternity leave. I don't have an exact date for surgery yet, but I should hear back from the surgeron this week and have a better time line.

So, that's what's going on in our lives right now. It's crazy to me that I will probably be sitting in Cleveland waiting to have heart surgery in just seven short weeks. That is not much time at all! Please keep the surgery in your prayers, but also Cody and I as we try to wrap up a lot of school work before the surgery.

More updates to come!