Just in from Ross McConaghy

Dear CVHS friends,

Sorry I have not advised you of my recovery progress before now. I laid off the internet for awhile. Now to update you. My quadruple by-pass surgery was 6 weeks ago tomorrow and my recovery has been fantastic. I've never felt one pain where they took a vein out of my leg. In fact I have had very little discomfort at all. I started rehab. last week and everything is going fine.

Would like to share something with you that I call my "WALK AND TALK WITH GOD". The day I had my heart catheterization, I was told that I had had a heart attack and stints were not an option, I would require by-pass surgery. That was not a good day! That night about bedtime I had an emotional breakdown, not believing this was happening to me since I have no family history of heart problems. I finally went to sleep, however at 4:00 am I woke up and talked with God. I asked for peace of mind, calmness and for Him to guide the surgeon through the surgery the next week. Almost immediately I was calm and at peace, which has been with me ever since. I realized then that God had been with me the whole time. Several doors were opened, such as, the speed in which I was scheduled through each phase of the experience. My doctor setting up a chemical stress test, calling a cardiologist he knew and setting up the heart cath. the next week, calming me down and the big one, the hospital accepting our insurance for which I was told by my company benefits office that the hospital would NOT accept my insurance.

The surgery was scheduled for Wednesday, April 9 and everything went just fine. The surgeon called me his “poster patient“. He was planning on releasing me the following Monday. Sunday night at midnight, I woke up and a nurse and tech. were in my room on the phone with a cardiologist, discussing something they saw on my monitor. I went back to sleep, waking up the next morning and for the first time was hungry and wanted a big breakfast. I ordered and they delivered this great breakfast and as I was starting to take my first bite the door opened and the nurse said "Mr. McConaghy have you eaten or drank anything this morning?“ Told her no, she said “DON'T“, grabbed my tray and it was gone. Later she and a doctor came in and told me that my heart was in a Atrial Fibrillation rhythm which could cause blood clots that could go to the brain and that would not be good. They told me at 2:00 pm they would take me to the operating room, place a scope down my throat and if everything looked OK they would shock me once or twice to try and bring my heart into its proper rhythm. They left and I talked to God again. I asked Him to continue to keep me calm and guide the doctors through the procedure. I then asked Him if He would correct my heart problem that I trusted Him more than I did the doctors. About thirty minutes later the nurse came back in with a look of disbelief on her face and told me that my heart was beating just fine. The doctors had looked at my monitor, had cancelled the procedure and were sending me home that afternoon. WOW!! Those who do not believe in the power of God have not had the experience that I have.

We wanted to attend the alumni banquet, however guess we will have to wait until next year.