I woke up

And more good news

Well, I made it through.

Eight days after my sixth open-heart surgery, I’m sitting in a cardiac care step down floor room at the Cleveland Clinic, legs swollen to the point of numbness and parts of my upper body pulsating with a familiar pain. And I couldn’t be more grateful, because my surgeon tells me that the operation was hugely successful and he was able to accomplish everything on his considerable pre-op checklist. A reverse Ross procedure, aortic root replacement, mitral valve repair, and likely some other miracles, boxes all ticked. I don’t know that any other hospital could have pulled this off, mostly because no others seemed willing to try.

This was my second surgery in less than two years, part of a lifetime of unexpected twists, so I won’t jinx anything by celebrating just yet. But it’s a relief to be writing this, as foggy as my brain remains, and I’m hoping to head back to NYC sometime this weekend. It’s been a brutal week, maybe even more than I anticipated, but the staff here is patient and kind. All the more motivation to fight for everybody to have direct access to such care in a country where zip code, job status, or blind luck too often determines health outcomes and the course of people’s lives.

This isn’t going to be an easy recovery, especially because I want to make sure this one sticks and is truly my last open-heart surgery. A career defined by speed and vigor and intensity may become one focused more on depth and thought. Unique new stories, long-term projects, and ventures outside the news cycle. Every challenge is an opportunity.

Plans can change, but my hope is to get back to NYC this weekend and catch my breath. Ideally I’ll return to occasional publishing later this month and gear up from there. Maybe I’ll get so bored and fired up that it defies the pain and lethargy and I send stuff earlier. Luckily, the holiday season is generally slow and other outlets take hiatus, so the impact of my convalescence should be minimal. This assumes a steady and uninterrupted recovery, but I’m trying to be cautiously optimistic after what would have been, without my family, the worst two years of my life.

Thank you to everyone who has offered kind words and encouragement. They really cheered me up on an otherwise miserable flight to Ohio. Your ongoing support means the world. We’ll get back to fighting for its future soon.

---

---