September 11, 2002

On this day, most people remember the attacks on the World Trade Centers by terrorists wanting to destroy America. I think of this too, but this day also makes me think of another occasion. On the one year anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, September 11, 2002, I had a procedure done on my heart known as a Catheter Ablation. Up until that date I suffered from a disorder called Wolff -Parkinson-White Syndrome. It's not necissarily a life-threatening disorder, but it did limit my activities and narrow down what I wanted to do with my life. When an attack came on, I remember there was a lot of pain. My chest hurt so severely that it felt like a knife was being shoved into it. I would often get very dizzy and light-headed and on occasion was worried I would pass out. I did play sports, but I knew that certain things would trigger an attack. I couldn't suddenly start sprinting, make any jerky movements, and even running up the stairs set it off. When I was going through a little bit of testing to see if I was a candidate for surgery, my heart was recorded at going 240 bpm (beats per minute). I was scheduled for surgery and on September 11, 2002, I underwent a procedure that helped me live my life more fully. I remember waking up at the crack of dawn to go to the hospital. I'll never forget looking out the back winsheild of our car in the parking garage at the man standing in the middle of it. He was dressed in Scottish attire with the kilt and hat, playing Amazing Grace on the bagpipes. I'll admit, it was an ominous sight. We drove to the hospital and watched as President Bush read the names of the people who died on the flights for the one year anniversary. They called me back to get prepped. I was a little nervous. After changing into a gown, the nurse tried to start an IV on me and missed the vein. Blood started spurting a little from my arm and my dad, who was sitting in a rolling chair, started backing way up (he hates needles). I remember thinking at that point, "That doesn't look good..." When they took me to the room, it was cold. They told me it was a room built for machines, not people. There were a lot of people in the room, mostly students because the operation was at the University Hospital in SLC. When I was put under, I remember seeing the room, but from the viewpoint of the ceiling looking down on what was happening. I woke up in the recovery room and my first thought was to look at the clock to see how long the surgery had lasted. I think I calculated about 4 hours, but I'm not sure what the actual time was. When the nurse saw I was awake, she took my vitals and asked if I wanted some ice cream. My throat was very sore because they had to put a tube down it. The nurse fed me because I was still too weak to feed myself. She was very generous in her servings and hardly let me swallow before she shoved another spoonful into my mouth! I finally had to shut my mouth so I could breathe for a second. I was then wheeled out of the recovery room and into an elevator by 2 people, a man and woman, who I think were talking about some dating scandal that had recently happened. After I got to my room, all I did the rest of the day was sleep and watch TV. Sleeping was hard because of the IV in my arm (which hurt like the dickens every time I touched it) and because the nurses were constantly coming in and out of the room taking vitals and seeing if I needed anything. That next morning, I ate a little bit of breakfeast and we went home. We got back in time for me to go to the volleyball game our team had that night. I couldn't play, but it was fun to sit on the bench and cheer the team on. I know the surgery was very expensive and somewhat of an inconvenience, but it has helped me live a much fuller life. I don't have to worry about running up the stairs or joining in a game my friends are playing for fear of having an attack. If you look at me now, you wouldn't know I had heart surgery. The only scar I have left is a tiny dot on my neck, hardly noticable even when I am looking for it. I'm very thankful for today because it helps me remember what good things can happen with advances in medicine and wonderful people like Dr. Klein and my parents.