Recovery.

I'm home! And I have been since Wednesday.

The Surgery went better than anyone had expected and the whole procedure was done with my heart still beating, which I'll admit, warps my mind! I don't really remember anything (apart from a hazy and horrible memory of having the ventilator out, I was only on it for 3 hours, go me!) until about midnight, where I woke up in ICU having come out of surgery at 4pm. Due to spending most of the day asleep, I annoyingly spent most of the night awake. I had a lovely nurse looking after me called Helen. She was fantastic and made me feel a whole lot better about where I was. Her and the other nurses were absolutely fantastic and at 7am the next morning she went home and a lady called Kat took over. She couldn't have been much older than me, but being stuck there in that hospital bed I felt so young and little and helpless whereas a girl probably only a couple of years older than me was doing her job and being a proper adult and well... yeah. I need to finish Uni and start being a proper adult too, basically.

Once back on the Ward on the Friday Morning, I had a truly brilliant team of staff look after me for the next 5 days. I can't even begin to tell you just how good the staff of Ward 31 are. I had the best stay I could have imagined and once the horrific Chest Drains were out (3, not 1 but 3, it was horrible) I was very comfy and happy there. I had visitors galore and a wonderful surgical team that came to check on my progress every day. I made friends with a lovely lady called Linda, who had the same operation as me the following day, we've swapped details and I aim to see her again when we're both allowed to drive again.  
I was discharged on Wednesday, only 6 days after my surgery and was very glad to be back at home. My pain is controlled well and my 14 tablets a day make me rattle as I walk along! I am recovering better than I expected and better than anyone else expected and am doing much more for myself than I thought possible. Most people who have seen me since I came home say that to look at me, you wouldn't even realise I'd been in surgery 12 days ago. I'm really pleased and look forward to spending my Summer how I wanted, having fun and enjoying my last Summer as a student.

I have so many people to thank for these past few weeks, not only the staff at the hospital, but my family and friends who have given me such amazing and overwhelming support, I couldn't have done it without that, I'd have just found it all too much.

I am using this surgery as a new beginning, once I am able to do so, I will exercise more and more regularly, I aim to try and start and stay on a healthier diet and basically use this to my advantage to stay fitter and healthier and keep my heart as healthy as possible.

This blog will continue, with my progress and with other stuff, I'm sure, but until my appointment at the end of the month I doubt anything will be written here, but if you would like to catch up with my adventures in the mean time, you can do by reading my other blog here. 

Also, you can find me in bite-size form on Twitter, @CHDHeartWarrior.