For those of you who have never been on a vent (intubed with a ventilator which does the breathing for you)..........I have no way of describing it. The best thing you can do and the hardest thing to do is relax and trust it. The more you try to breathe, the more you cannot.....you're fighting the machine. It's as if you were drowning. You feel as if you need to breathe to get air, but you don't. But since you're not doing the normal thing you think you are not getting air so you gasp.....it's very strange. The best thing to do is just lay there and hope for drugs to keep you out of it so you aren't fighting the damn thing. After awhile you get used to it but it's still very scary every time you wake up. I've had this experience 3 times now and if I never have it again it will be too soon. It doesn't hurt when they remove it....just a bit of the gag reflex to help it along and out it comes.

My worst experience was back with the aneurysm (aortic dissection) when I was on one for about 10 days. Most of the time I was either in a coma or deep on drugs, but I had to put up with almost three days of being awake and on the vent. When they finally removed it, I was hoarse for several days.

Now that it's over.....Great!!!! Get better real fast Kendall and do all the things on the list. Hopefully all went well and your heart will now have to heal around the new arteries (about 2 weeks) and then get used to operating as it probably hasn't in several years. For that to happen, providing everything else is okay, you need to follow a rehab program and don't try to skip out on it. It's worth it if you can do it.

Also, like you, I had my chest cracked for the bypass, but in '02 when I had to have the mitral valve replaced, I thought I would have to do it again. Luckily, one of the best cutters in the US is at Ohio State and he was doing the testing on the daVinci Robot. Try not to let this depress you, but they now do ALL bypasses at OSU without opening your chest!!! Two small pencil sized holes and that's it! You're out of the hospital in two days and there is no pain from the surgery! Ain't that a pisser? Sorry man......

For me, I was the second patient to have a valve replaced robotically. Again, the two pencil holes for the arms of the robot plus a small incision to pass the valve in to the robot arms and that was it. After the post op (vent of course), I was feeling good right away because the really didn't do anything besides make a small incision....No Chest Cracking!!!! That was glorious! It was a little painful to raise my arm, but compared to the chest bit you get when they saw your sternum, it was nothing at all.

Hold onto your pillow and try not to sneeze and it will eventually go away. It takes a few weeks for the chest to feel much like normal again and you may always have a numb sensation in certain places. Groan a lot and show people your scar and get the max in pity while you can......after awhile they'll realize you're fakin' it. But at first, you won't be so get all the sympathy you can......not from me of course. No, when you think of me, remember I'm the guy who told you that it could have been completely painlessly!!!
.....**yarharharharyarharharharyarharhar**..... (evil laugh)

We love ya' Kendall.....and stay away from the Llahma for a few weeks...

Spaw