Today I visited with my cardiologist. I was given a new echocardiagram. This is the sonogram test that’s used to look at the heart. The Dr. said my heart is functioning totally normal. The ejection fraction (efficiency of pumping) is at 65%. Normal hearts function between 50-65%. He was very, very encouraged. He didn’t think my current medications were really working for me, but he didn’t want to take a chance so he left me on them for another three months.
As he was examining me, I decided to pepper him with a few questions. “How critical was I, really?” He informed me I could have died at any moment. He told me that I had been sent to Medical City believing I would be in need of a Left Ventricular Assist Device. This would be a pump installed during open heart surgery but would be left outside of the body. I asked him how long he would have waited before installing the device. He informed me that he would not have waited much longer, but the medicines started to work very quickly. I asked how long the device would have been left in my heart. I replied the device is not intended to be removed. It would have stayed in my heart for the rest of my life, or until I received a heart transplant. He finished up with all of this news saying that I had dodged a bullet.
If I’ve dodged a bullet, it’s only because I stumbled into the arms of a gracious God.
–Robb