Heart Scene: A Very Special Evening

by: Tony Mussari

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Saturday, February 23, 2008, was a very special evening for Kitch and me. We were guests of the Wyoming Valley Health Care System at the annual American Heart Association Gala.

Heart Scene: A Journey of Discovery and Recovery was recognized in a way that touched our hearts. Kitch and I knew about this event for some time. Every time we thought about its significance, we thought about the kindness of so many people who helped us with our Heart Scene Project.

Early one morning when I was working on my speech, I got very sentimental about everything that has happened to us since 2004, where we were in terms of our health, the life changing decisions we made, the state of my health, the near brush with death, the life saving operation performed by Dr. Michael Harostock and his wonderful team, and the opportunity to tell the the story of open-heart surgery from the point of view of a patient.

Three years ago this weekend Kitch and I were in Lake Placid, New York, with seven students from our last class. We were there to record the events of the Miracles, Memories and Magic celebration and the anniversary of the Miracle on Ice and the dedication of the Herb Brooks Arena.(www.miracleatplacid.com)

During our visit, we met Patti Brooks and her children, Kelly and Dan. Our students were overwhelmed by what they experienced, the people they met and the things they learned. Throughout the weekend, wherever they went, they heard the inspirational quote of Coach Herb Brooks: "Great moments are born of great opportunity."

Little did I know then that those words would inspire Kitch and me to begin our Heart Scene journey. It was from Coach Brooks' words that we developed an important life lesson from our Heart Scene experience: "Disappointment is the mother of opportunity."

In a very real way our Miracle Project is the mother of our Heart Scene Project. As I recovered in the step down unit, I thought about ways to affirm the wonderful people we met at the Wilkes-Barre General Hospital.

One afternoon it occurred to me that we could use the Windsor Park Stories format to tell the story of the members of Dr. Harostock's medical team in the same way we told the story of Herb Brooks and his team.

To my great delight, I discovered two of the wonderful ironies of this project. Dr. Michael Harostock considers Lake Placid to be his second home and Tom McGrath is a hockey afficionado.

For the past six months, we have been working twelve hours a day, seven days a week on our Heart Scene Journey. Now we are inching closer to our goal. If good fortune remains our friend, the project will be finished during the first week of April.

When that day arrives, we will have produced 20 episodes that cover and explain every phase of an open-heart procedure as seen through the eyes of a patient and a caregiver. To the best of our knowledge, nothing quite like this has ever been done before. It will be a dream come true.

Albert Einstein was right:

Only a life lived for others is a life worth living.

To everyone who affirmed, encouraged, and helped us during our Heart Scene Journey of Discovery and Recovery, we say thank you for helping make this dream come true.

The video on this page will give you a good idea of the depth of our gratitude and some of the things we talked about during the Heart Association Gala.

 

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