The Awakening
For years, my Aortic Valve Stenosis was a quiet companion. We knew it was there, but it didn’t trouble me, and I didn’t trouble it. My family often wondered if this condition would eventually “awaken” and begin its mischief. That day finally arrived on Monday, July 27th, 2026. It began with a simple breathlessness that grew daily until, by Thursday, August 6th, it was severe. My son, Mark, who had been staying with me, recognized the urgency. We saw my GP, who immediately looped in my cardiologist, Dr. Chris Alexopolous, for an urgent cardiac echo and Holter study the following Monday.
The Family Advocate
On Friday, August 7th, the focus shifted to Tamworth. My daughter, Jeannine, accessed my pathology results through her professional role. She was immediately alarmed; a specific protein marker indicated my heart was under extreme stress; I was in heart failure. Jeannine stepped into her role as my medical advocate, coordinating with Dr. Alexopolous to arrange an immediate admission under his care at Port Macquarie Base Hospital. My daughter, Kim, drove me to the Emergency Department that night, where I began a 27-day hospital stay.
The Transfer and the Power of Prayer
After two nights in the ED and a transfer to the Coronary Care Unit, it was determined I needed a TAVI (Trans-catheter Aortic Valve Implantation). I spent two weeks at Port Base, where the nursing care was exceptional, waiting for a bed at Prince of Wales (PoW) Hospital in Randwick. On Friday, August 14th, I was transferred via Care Flight in a twin-engine King 8 aircraft. The 50-minute flight with pilot Luke and Nurse Jaz was smooth, but the road trip from Bankstown Airport through Sydney traffic was where the Spirit took over. During that hour-long drive, friends, Wendy Ballard and Sue Palmer, who were attending a Community of Christ National Gathering in Wilberforce, NSW, gathered around a phone to pray for me. That prayerful concern became a global effort, with friends from across Australia and the world joining in daily.
Sacraments and Support
Upon my arrival at PoW, I was not alone. Jeannine had made the journey from Tamworth to Sydney to accompany me, serving as my constant carer and medical advocate throughout that first critical week. While I focused on the coming surgery, Jeannine had also arranged a beautiful surprise. On Sunday, August 16th, Anne Bonnefin, Gail Robinson, and Jenny Robinson came to visit me, travelling directly to PoW from the National Gathering, which had only just concluded. They brought with them the sacraments of communion in which they had just shared, together with the sacred emblems of remembrance used during the final act of worship. Gail led this holy moment.
Jenny and Anne offered the Prayer of Administration—the laying on of hands for healing. It was a moment of profound peace before the trials that lay ahead. Throughout this precious time, I felt the calm of God’s presence descend into my broken heart and reach deep within my soul. How blessed I was in that moment to sense the depth of God’s love for me. In the days that followed, I experienced the peace and blessing of God in a way unlike anything I had ever known in my life.
The Procedure and the Complication
Monday, August 17th was surgery day. At 95, the “battery” of needles gave new meaning to the colour purple and left my body looking like I had been hit by a bus, yet the TAVI procedure itself was a marvel. I remained conscious under sedation, actually catching glimpses of the new valve on the monitors as it moved through
my femoral artery. Recovery, however, took a frightening turn. A complication with my blood thinners caused internal urinary tract bleeding. This emergency meant my heart monitoring was temporarily deprioritized to treat the haemorrhage. Unbeknownst to the team, as the bleeding was managed, my heart rate was beginning to crash.
The Second Crisis
I was returned to Port Base on Friday, August 21st, but by the next afternoon, I felt life ebbing away. Kim alerted my nurse, who initiated three rapid response alerts over six hours as my heart rate plummeted to 28 bpm. The new super strong aortic valve sits close to the heart’s electrical impulse centre, and can cause a complication of a ”communication failure” between the heart’s chambers and this had been quietly happening within me over preceding days. An infusion of Isoprenaline kept me stable through a harrowing night until I could be flown back to Sydney by Air Ambulance on Sunday, August 23rd — this time with Kim traveling by road to advocate for me.
New Technology and a Steady Beat
On Monday, August 24th, Dr. Sze-Yuan Ooi utilized cutting-edge technology to implant a tiny leadless pacemaker — only 25mm long—directly into my heart’s right ventricle. This remarkable device has done its job perfectly; where my heart was once failing, the pacemaker now ensures it maintains a comfortable, steady rhythm of 60 beats per minute.
Home at Last
My final journey home by Care Flight on Wednesday, September 2nd included a final bit of drama with a radar failure and severe turbulence, but Pilot Alan and Nurse Jaz saw me safely back to Port Macquarie. I was finally discharged on Thursday, September 3rd into the care of my family.
After 27 days of hospital stay, one of the great trials was perhaps the food—atrocious and unappetising meals that felt like an additional penance. How good it is to be out! I am weak, but I am home. Now, instead of hospital trays, I am revelling in the joy of home-cooked, nutritionally rich food catered for by my family. I am taking things slowly, trusting God for my restoration, and basking in the rich, loving care of my family. I am truly a blessed man.
And Finally….
My life flows on in endless song, above earth’s lamentation,
I catch the sweet though far off hymn that hails a new creation.
No storm can shake my inmost calm while to that Rock I’m clinging.
Since love is Lord of heaven and earth, how can I keep from singing?
Through all the tumult and the strife, I hear that music ringing,
It finds an echo in my soul, how can I keep from singing?
The peace of Christ makes fresh my heart, a fountain ever springing!
All things are mine since I am his, how can I keep from singing?
(Words: Robert Lowry. 1826-1899 CCS 263 My Life Flows on in Endless Song.)
John Frederick Rawson