Donna and Delos

This is a group email I sent out the day after Donna had her mitral valve repair surgery, performed by Delos Cosgrove, MD at Cleveland Clinic. It's a fond memory now. At the time, I was sitting on pins and needles, hoping everything went alright. This was sent from Donna's Governor's State University email address because we didn't yet have a home email address. I made a modem connection with govst.edu and logged into Donna's Pine account (that was their email client) to send this message to the group.

MH

From: d-michels1@govst.edu (Donna Michels)
Subject: The Day After

Hello again everybody. 

Donna has moved up in the world - five floors up, to be exact. And she would have a room with a view if her bed were located next to the window. She's now located on the tenth floor, which has a name something like "cardiac rehabilitation facility." There's a phone by her bed. She has asked that no one call her for a while longer. I'll send you an e-mail with her phone number when she gives me the go-ahead 

She's doing much better. When she left the ICU she left behind two of her three IVs and the two drainage tubes that were inserted into her chest at the conclusion of the surgery. The medical staff assures me that everything is going very well. So far, her atrial fibrillation hasn't returned since the shock-restart of her heart at the conclusion of surgery. But our pre-surgery orientation indicated that the test of this would come forty-eight hours after surgery. At that point there is a good chance the fibrillation will reappear. This would then be controlled with drugs. I'll keep you posted. 

This is a resting day for Donna. Last night, she was terribly irritated by all the bric-a-brac the ICU folks had stuck in her, and this led to a restless night. But she's feeling many times better than she did last night. Most of her complaints stem from the aches she feels here and there. The medical staff think some of these aches stem from the way she was positioned on the operating table during surgery. And she also gets quite sore when she is forced to lie on her back (and please forgive me if this is supposed to be "lay." Donna has scolded me a hundred times about this). Her nurse is controlling the pain with Percocet. The only other post-operative medication she's taking is an intravenous antibiotic, strictly as a prophylactic measure. There isn't any indication of infection. 

She asked for some orange juice and, after the first sip, commented that it was "heaven." 

Earlier today, Kate and I went to visit her in the ICU. She was looking pretty tired. I read her the e-mails that you all have sent. I did see her manage a small smile. 

Each time I visit her, she's looking and acting stronger - I think remarkably so, having only come out of the anesthesia twenty-four hours ago. 

I had a short conversation with her this afternoon. She recalled her memories of what took place yesterday after we left her at the surgery elevator. The man pushing her cart couldn't speak English. After the elevator ride, her next stop was the anesthesiologist's room. She described this man as an Egyptian who liked to joke around. Since she had earlier received a syringe full of tranquilizer, she could appreciate this man's humor (this might be a tip for stand-up comedians who find themselves working a particularly tough room). The anesthesiologist went about his work, but stopped short of actually administering the hard stuff. He was waiting for word from the OR that it was go time. When the high sign was given, the drugs were delivered and that's just about all Donna remembers - except that a woman with a napkin on her head came into the room to take Donna to another room where everybody had napkins on their heads.

The next thing she remembered was that her ICU nurse introduced herself to Donna as she emerged from the anesthesia. I asked if she ever had the opportunity to meet Dr. Delos Cosgrove. She hadn't. 

When Donna was first made aware of her particular heart malfunction, we began to do a great deal of research through the library and the Internet. We wanted to know what effect this malfunction would have on her health and what could be done to correct it. Throughout this research, two names kept popping up; Cleveland Clinic and Dr. Cosgrove. 

Cleveland Clinic is the heart surgery Mecca. Over 5400 such surgeries are performed here each year. And nobody does it better than Delos Cosgrove. He actually pioneered the minimally invasive technique used to repair Donna's mitral valve utilizing the Cosgrove Ring.

After Donna received her first surgical opinion from Dr. Mazurek in Hoffman Estates, she decided she wanted to go ahead with the surgery. From our studies, we decided we'd like to have the surgery performed at Cleveland Clinic. Dr. Mazurek smiled and said that he was a Fellow at Cleveland Clinic. If we wanted to go there, he'd call them and set it up. 

That's what led us to our October 1997 appointment with the Clinic's Dr. Marwick. Marwick gave us our second opinion recommending mitral valve repair. He added that he could get...Cosgrove...to perform the surgery (the pause was his). 

This is no singular example. Cleveland Clinic staff display a demeanor of great reverence and devotion when referring to Cosgrove. 

When we had our pre-surgery orientation with the anesthesiologist, he rattled off a list of the hazards one may encounter when these drugs are used and then added, "... but not in Cosgrove's surgery." At the conclusion of our meeting, we thanked him and indicated we'd see him tomorrow. He replied, "Oh no, you probably won't see me. I'm not on Cosgrove's team. I'd like to be there. Maybe I will be. I guess there's a chance." Honestly, it was like we had said, "Hey, we'll see you tomorrow at our audience with the Pope," and then listened to this guy trip all over his words at the mere thought of such a possibility. 

I'm envious of Kate. She was the one who took the call from Cosgrove, indicating the surgery was done and all was as it should be. If I had taken the call, I'd charge Clinic staff members to touch the ear to which the phone had been placed in order to hear the master's voice. 

And I'm not kidding about the use of "master." This was the very term used by the ICU nurse when describing Cosgrove. I asked her if everything had gone as planned. She replied, "Of course everything is all right. Cosgrove was the surgeon. He's the master." 

Earlier that afternoon, while Kate and I were waiting for Donna to return to the ICU, a woman approached us. She was delivering a message from Cosgrove. The surgery had been completed at 1:15 PM, just as Cosgrove had indicated during his phone call to Kate. But the remainder of the operation hadn't been completed until 4:00 PM. Cosgrove wanted to assure us that all was well, in spite of the delay. He is a truly benevolent deity. The woman went on to say that she was the one chosen to deliver Cosgrove's messages. Whenever Cosgrove had a message, she was the one to deliver it. She had been delivering his messages for the past fifteen years. 

At first I thought, yeah, OK, I get it. You're the messenger. But, upon further reflection, I've seen the light. This is a very important woman. She is the link between Cosgrove and mortal man. 

And who's to say he isn't a god. Did he not make Donna whole once more. 

Donna Michels was delivered from evil by Delos Cosgrove, M.D. Amen.