P.O.P. Heartbeat

This morning was my pre-operation preparation at the hospital, which I have called P.O.P. I’m not entirely sure what to expect, but I assume that someone will take some blood and some measurements, and discuss the operation with me. I arrive just after 8am, and after a quick visit to admin to fill in some admission forms, I am taken to a room filled with other people. I quickly determine that P.O.P. is the heart surgery version of ante-natal class. There are eight other people here who will be having major heart surgery next week, accompanied by their families. None of them is younger than 55, and in fact one of them asks if I am their surgeon? There are seven gentleman and one lady patient, and almost all of them look terrified. Little discussions are taking place, and the light-hearted banter focuses upon the one thing we have in common – heart surgery. One man is having double bypass surgery (two blocked arteries leading to the heart, so veins from his arms or legs will be transplanted to replace the blocked arteries). The next triple bypass. This is topped by double bypass and a valve replacement. My valve repair/replacement is starting to sound pretty simple now! We are all put into place by the elder statesman of the group, a 77 year old gentleman, who declares in a very strong steady voice that he is having a quadruple bypass. I really hope his surgery goes well!

Finally our group session commences, and we are introduced to Lee, who is a member of Heartbeat, an association of ex-cardiac patients who want to provide support and assistance to other heart surgery patients and their carers. She had a aortic valve replacement in 2004, and is accompanied by her husband. She informs us that they will be our “case officers” and will visit us during our stay in hospital to see how we are going, and provide assistance as required. They also do post-hospital check-ups to make sure that things are going ok at home. She tells us about her own experiences, and I think it reassures most of the group, at least a little bit.