Summer Ash survived open-heart surgery. Now she’s dealing with the side-effects, including the strange sensation of an overly loud, strong heartbeat.
At first I was told that a “hyper-dynamic heartbeat” is a normal side-effect of open heart surgery and it usually calms down within six to nine months. Nine months came and went, no change. Then I was told that the scar tissue beneath my sternum must be thick enough that it’s fully filling the gap between my heart sac and my sternum, therefore transmitting the vibrations of each heartbeat directly to my rib cage which then acts like an amplifier. In theory, scar tissue thins over time and the sensation should dissipate. Having been a mechanical engineer, this makes sense to me. However, no one can say on what time scale this will happen.
It started off as a novelty, a bit of a party trick. I used to make everyone feel how strong it was. When I would hug people, they’d feel their body rock to the beat. And when I went out to eat, if I was at a small, less sturdy, table for two, I could lean my chest on the edge of the table and make the water glasses do that thing from Jurassic Park.
I highly recommend reading the series of posts she’s writing about living with the after-effects of life-saving surgery. Although she’s happy to be alive, Ash provides a perspective on serious surgical interventions that we don’t often hear.