There is no place like home

There is no place like home
Especially if you have completed the once in a life time Hospital Endurathon.
Glad I trained for the event and was rather young.  Got a PR, personal record, first time out and do not ever plan on doing another one.
Usually I get a medal and T-Shirt on such endurance events.  In this case my heart pillow will substitute as the T-Shirt and my brand new On-X #27-29 mechanical valve will serve as my medal.
There were a number of things I never thought I would learn.
Not in any particular order.
How to snap and tie a hospital gown with one arm hooked up to an IV.
How to ask for more hospital food.
That I would lose 10 pounds in a week without dieting.
Judge the blood draw staff on promptness, courtesy and overall effectiveness.
I even got out of bed and asked why the 4 am stick was running late.
Over a dozen ways to tell someone that what was going to happen was going to hurt all while smiling.
How to escape in my mind from a hospital.
The chopper daily and nightly schedule.
The importance of having fresh spare noise cancellation headphone batteries.
What INR, International Normalized Ratio, stands for and how it's movement varies widely from person to person.
That the surgeon that you have is always the best one on staff.
It is quicker to go from fully dressed to ready for open heart surgery than to go from hospital gown to your car on discharge.
How great sunsets really look.
How sweet the words "wake up" can sound.
That being cold is relative but being hot is unbearable
How to operate a multifunction hospital bed with one hand with eye shades on.
That pain is truly temporary.
How great the sound of two beeps after hitting the pain pump in ICU is.
That it is harder to forget what you don't want to remember than you thought.
That your heart is pretty smart and after surgery it knows that it is now time to get some rest all by itself
That I would fear being at home not hooked up to all the machines.
This one caused a panic attack on the first night at home.
The trip home wore me out and got all the information to when call their 24/7 number and when to call 911.
Blood pressure and heart rate were both up and my entire chest and  left shoulder blade hurt.
The spiral began.  Did they let me go to soon,etc?  After nearly two weeks of being tested, observed, monitored etc it was now time for me to figure it out all by myself. I had read stories of others ending up at the ER and I feared that was where I was headed.  Sleep deprivation did not help matters.  I managed to calm down took two Tylenols and crashed for 10 hours.  
Felt much better yesterday and hope that I am well on my way to recovery.  I am sure there will be some twists and turns along the way.  I have read how people decided when to go back to work.  Right now I am figuring that if I can't run then I should not subject others to a hostile work environment.
Went to get my blood checked today and my INR number was 2.1 with a goal of 2.5 to 3.5.  Only a drop of blood from my finger was needed so my arms were very happy.
While there I scheduled my 7 day post op with my GP and my 4 week post op Echo and office visit with my Cardiologist.  Hopefully by then my heart will no longer need the rest and that my Injection Fraction  is back to near 60% as before surgery.
Only decision to be made now.  Second half of World Cup soccer or Nap Time.
Tony