![\"mrbell\"](\"https:\/\/fromabirdseyeview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/mrbell1.jpeg\")
<\/a>Mr. Bell’s Fixit Shop<\/i> was Dana\u2019s favorite book as a toddler.\u00a0 We read it to her so many times, that by the time she was two and a half, she had it memorized, literally. I could just turn the page, she\u2019d see the picture and recite, word-for-word, what was written.\u00a0 That remarkable recall memory would later serve her well in school. Mr. Bell had a sign in front of his shop that read, \u2018I Can Fix Everything But Broken Hearts\u2019.\u00a0 Cutting to the chase, predictably he\u2019s able to repair a doll for Jill that mends her broken heart.\u00a0 In this tale of life imitating art, Dana had a heart in need of fixing.\u00a0 Playing the role of Mr. Bell was Dr. Alfredo Trento, Director of the Cardiothoracic Division at \u2018his shop\u2019, Cedars-Sinai Hospital in West Hollywood.<\/p>\n\u00a0Dana is the world\u2019s best patient.\u00a0 We visited her as she was lying in pre-op, cracking jokes, pulling faces in her new \u2018O.R. hat\u2019 (see photo below) and speculating on whether they are going to insert a human, pig or cow replacement valve in her heart.\u00a0 She concludes it\u2019s down to a pig or human, as the Chick-fil-A cows have once again mounted a strong ad campaign in favor of the pig value.<\/p>\n
In an hour we get a call from a nurse inside the O.R. (one of the great uses of cell phones) that the operation is going well; in three and a half hours we get another call telling us that the surgery has been successfully completed and they are now sewing her up.\u00a0 Shortly thereafter Dr. Trento comes out to the waiting room to tell us that everything went very well \u2013 we all breathed a very heavy collective sigh of relief.<\/p>\n We visited Dana about an hour later in I.C.U. where there are no pictured allowed<\/span>, but when asked about the picture I took at the right, I told them it Wednesday is \u2018moving day\u2019 from I.C.U. to \u2018I Don\u2019t See You\u2019 or whatever the regular rooms are called.\u00a0 Her new room is decorated with lots of flowers and balloons \u2013 thank you!\u00a0 She\u2019s feeling pretty good for someone who just had her chest cracked open \u2013 thanks to \u2018better living through chemistry\u2019.\u00a0 The doctors and nurses at Cedars-Sinai are amazing \u2013 could not ask for better care!\u00a0 I felt like we should leave them a tip or something, but instead I\u2019ll just give them a great recommendation.<\/p>\n Dana\u2019s recovery has been remarkable; she is back to being her normal high-energy self, in fact our only concern is that they say her \u2018new heart\u2019 is going to give her more energy! \u00a0Welcome back Darlin’ Dana!!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by Bob Sparrow Mr. Bell’s Fixit Shop was Dana\u2019s favorite book as a toddler.\u00a0 We read it to her so many times, that by the time she was two and a half, she had it memorized, literally. I could just … read more<\/a>Dana tells us that she\u2019s made cookies for all her O.R. and I.C.U. caregivers and put them in little \u2018Thank You\u2019 bags. \u00a0She told the hospital staff, \u201cIf you do a good job, you\u2019ll get a cookie\u201d.\u00a0 If you\u2019ve tasted Dana\u2019s cookies, you know that\u2019s a great incentive!\u00a0 They wheeled her into the O.R. cracking up and I cautioned her to \u2018lie very still\u2019 during the operation.\u00a0 Dr. Trento tells us that the operation will take approximately 5 hours (there\u2019s probably no smoke breaks in there) and that he won\u2019t know what valve he\u2019ll use until he looks at the heart.\u00a0 Husband Joe is hoping they use a human valve because he knows that Dana is such an animal lover that if they use a pig valve, as a \u2018Thank You\u2019 gesture she will want to get \u00a0a pot belly pig as a pet.<\/p>\n<\/a>was an artist\u2019s rendering that I just drew.\u00a0 I\u2019m pretty sure they didn\u2019t believe me, but they let me keep the picture anyway. \u00a0She was in quite a bit of pain up to 12 hours after the operation, but the next morning, less than 24 hours after the operation, Dana got out of bed and walked around the I.C.U. \u2013 pulling all the tubes and bags along with her. \u00a0It looked like she was walking with R2D2. \u00a0I think she set a new Cedars-Sinai record for the two laps she completed.\u00a0 There is a lung transplant patient two rooms down that is challenging that, but I think Dana\u2019s got it.<\/p>\n<\/a>On day five, her last full day in the hospital, Dana is visited by a nurse that asks if she would like to talk with a social worker.\u00a0 No.\u00a0 Someone from the clergy, a minister, priest or rabbi? No.\u00a0 How about a \u2018Volunteer Dog\u2019? YES!!!\u00a0 Yep, hospitals now provide dogs that come in and visit patients.\u00a0 Pictured here is a white Labrador named Emma, who stopped by to see Dana and do a little \u2018Lab Work\u2019.<\/p>\n