'I Could Have Not Returned Home': Vidas Mačiulis's Open Message After Heart Surgery

Lithuanian journalist Vidas Mačiulis has openly shared his harrowing experience of undergoing a complex heart surgery performed without anesthesia. In a detailed Facebook post, Mačiulis recounted the procedure on his heart's main artery and his subsequent days in intensive care, expressing gratitude to the medical team.

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Thanks to three mystical angels, about whom Pranas Šarpnickis wrote vividly and convincingly in the book 'Another Life,' and most importantly, thanks to FIVE CARDIOLOGISTS AND CO. doctors, on the evening of August 1st, I am already home, where I might not have returned...

Mačiulis revealed that four stents were implanted during the surgery. Doctors explained that one of his main coronary arteries was only 5% open, meaning his heart could have stopped at any moment due to stress or lifting heavy objects. He attributed his survival to "three mystical angels" and the diligent work of five cardiologists and their medical team.

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This is a lesson for all those whose legs (feet, ankles, calves) begin to swell and whose strength unexpectedly decreases, which, except when I had virus C, I never lacked.

The journalist highlighted the importance of recognizing subtle health warning signs. He noted that leg swelling (feet, ankles, calves) and unexpected loss of strength, which he had experienced, can be indicators of serious heart conditions. He specifically thanked Dr. Laimutis Gedminas from LSMU Kauno Clinics for his thoroughness in ordering lab tests and referring him to cardiology.

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The doctor was specific: you need to be admitted to the hospital urgently, without explaining why or what he saw on the computer screen.

Professor Vytautas Žabiela at the cardiology clinic immediately recognized the urgency, admitting Mačiulis to the hospital without extensive explanation. The surgery itself, performed by Professor Gediminas Jaruševičius at the Kaunas Heart Center, was completed without pain, despite being done without anesthesia or sedatives. Mačiulis described hearing the surgeon's instructions during the procedure, which involved inserting a probe and placing the stents.

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For an hour, without anesthesia or painkillers, I felt no pain at all, only heard the professor's words that a probe was being inserted above the wrist of my right hand, and then – 'hand me the largest one, hand me a smaller one'...