The Next Chapter....

It has been a little over 3 months since Matt’s life changing, altering open heart surgery. A surgery to replace a valve in his heart that he was born with that was defective. Now, with that defect his heart had not only enlarged, but it began to fail. They told him at the age of 38 that his heart was the age of an 80 year old.

So, as you all know, on January 13th he underwent open heart surgery. They split open his chest all the way down to his sternum. They pulled out his heart, put him on bypass and replaced his valve. 10 days later he came home. 6 weeks later he was back to work and just 1 week ago he began his cardio rehab. Many “look” at him and think, “Ah, he is all better, fixed, back to normal.” Sometimes I think he even has that mind set. That it is expected that he will return to the “energizer bunny” that he was. That non-stop, always moving, thinking, planning….Yet, what the eyes fail to see on the outside is not even close to what is happening and needs to happen on the inside. Remember when I said he had the heart of an 80 year old? Remember when I said that his heart had enlarged? It will take him a year or so to recover physically. His heart is still enlarged. The goal with this new valve is that his heart will strengthen and go back to it’s normal size. It will take time as he learns a new way of life….as we ALL learn and walk beside him in this new way of life and thinking.

The chapter of HEART SURGERY has closed. The journey continues as we enter the chapter of recovery and what that looks like. I can say it is a journey, and one that I am thankful to be walking beside him as his RIB.

Matt’s life verse: “I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.” Philippians 4:13
Our family verse: “Isaiah 43:2 states, "When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze."