• Heart Valve Journal

    Confessions of a caregiver

    Like most women my age, I have done my share of caregiving. Two loving parents who lived well into their 80s. Friends who needed help after a serious accident. Others looking for comfort while battling illnesses or emotional distress. I’ve also been the recipient of caregiving, surviving not one but two open-heart surgeries. My longtime partner, Rebecca, took care of me after last year’s surgery to repair a leaky mitral valve. It was supposed to be “minimally invasive.” But scar tissue from the previous sternotomy in 2001 usurped that option, so my surgeon performed a thoracotomy. There’s nothing minimal about an 8-inch, C-shaped incision under your right shoulder blade. I…