Nine weeks to the day after I had quadruple by-pass surgery, Kitch and I were sitting in the office of Dr. Joseph Briskie. The road to this visit was long and somewhat complicated.

Many years ago after my brother’s unexpected heart attack and death, my sister and I were advised to see a cardiologist. We did, and for the past 19 years I have been waiting for the inevitable.

Too much work, too much stress, not enough vacation time, not enough relaxation, improper diet and frequent doses of anxiety and depression eventually caught up with me. A stroke of good fortune, a Bayer aspirin and the skill and the magnificent treatment I received from Dr. Michael Harostock and his wife, Beverly, gave me a second chance at life.

By its very nature, open-heart surgery is a very alarming experience for a patient.

In the popular culture the operation is often referred to as routine surgery. It is anything but that for the patient.

For the doctors who have refined the science of the operation and the teams they work with, it is very much like a launch off an aircraft carrier. They do it every day, and they do it well. In this respect it is routine, but in their private moments, they will tell you that when the operation begins ,they are always on the alert for the unexpected. That’s what makes this surgery so interesting.

Just like the surgery, many think the recovery is routine. I am here to tell you that it is anything but. There is a lot of low level anxiety somewhat like exiting a coal mine 500 feet below ground. Almost without warning as you are ascending from the pitch black chamber, you see rays of light. With the passing of every second the light becomes brighter, but every bump on the ride makes you wonder if you will indeed make it to the top.

Recovery is the same way. Some days it goes well and others are a complete wipeout.

At about six weeks into the process you are advised to have an appointment with your cardiologist. By that time you have been released by the surgeon, and you are about to enter a new and important phase of the recovery.

For me, arranging a visit with the cardiologist who helped to arrange my surgery did not go as planned. A visit that was scheduled for the sixth week was abruptly postponed for almost a month.

My wife was very anxious about this, and thanks to the understanding and kindness of Beverly Harostock and the intervention of her husband, I was able to get an appointment with Dr. Joseph Briskie.

His office is welcoming and his staff is very pleasant. The person who called to set up the appointment was professional but very personable. You got the feeling that you were welcome. You were more than a number. You were valued as a patient.

That same atmosphere existed from the moment we entered the door until the time we left.

Dr. Briskie’s wife, a registered nurse, opened the door, called my name and greeted me with a welcoming smile. Our first stop was at the scale where the ritual weigh-in was performed.

Then it was off to a private examination room that was bright and appropriately adorned with models and posters of the human heart and the most common forms of heart disease.

Because this was my first visit, a medical history was taken, and some preliminary examinations and two cardiograms were taken. In all it was a very professional, but very human and very pleasant experience.

A few moments of private time, and then it happened. The door opened and a man of medium build wearing blue surgical scrubs with a welcoming smile on his face introduced himself with the words, “I have heard so much about you from Dr. Harostock. I feel as though I know all about you.”

Smiles…laughter…good will.

We were off to an excellent start.

For the next 20 minutes we had a conversation about the operation, its long and short term consequences, medications, recovery and a host of other issues that were on my mind.

Dr. Briskie was as comfortable answering my questions as he was at asking his own questions. I learned something about his family history of heart disease. I learned that his father is the oldest living heart transplant patient from the University of Pennsylvania.

I learned something about his value system and his road to becoming a medical doctor. It was not easy and like the first space launch to the moon, it did not take a straight line, point to point, route. He had to leave Cornell to tend to the family business for two years.

He was an older student when he returned to Wilkes University to complete his undergraduate work.

Then there were several stops along the way in Missouri, New Jersey and western Pennsylvania.

This young man from Taylor, Pennsylvania, persevered, and today his journey and my journey intersected, if only for a few minutes. Kitch and I are the beneficiaries of this meeting.

He is a thoughtful man. He is a competent man. He is a pleasant man. He is a joyful man.

I know that because I asked him what word he most associates with life. His word is “joy.”

In the days ahead I will have some blood work done, and I will take a Thallium Stress Test, known in the medical community as a Nuclear Medicine Stress/Rest Heart Test.

Dr. Briskie will analyze the results. The test will tell him how well the heart muscle is being supplied with blood at rest and under stress. He will recommend a cardiac rehabilitation program if all goes well.

In December we will met again to discuss my progress.

Until then he advised against strenuous work. He reminded me that the blockages will return if I do not attend to the things that caused them in the first place.

He does not want me to return to the stress filled environment of producing a weekly television program until I am at least half way through the cardiac rehab experience.

It was my ninth week after surgery, and I was feeling very good about many things. In the waiting room Kitch was reading magazines, and thinking about the obstacles we have overcome during the past several weeks. As we left the office we were accompanied by Dr. and Mrs. Ed McLaughlin, both open-heart patients. We had a wonderful conversation in the hallway. The next time we see the McLaughlins they will be visiting The Garden of Life in Windsor Park.

As we drove away, I thought about Dr. Briskie’s word for life, joy. It is prominently displayed in The Garden of Life, and it is an apt description of what I was feeling.

(Picture credits: Wyoming Valley Health Care, Cardiovascular Media Library, HeartSite.com, Mussari-Loftus Associates, LTD)

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