Thanks, everyone. Just a follow-up: I was in the hospital for ten days, got back home just before Christmas. I saw my cardiologist on December 30 and my surgeon on January 8. They both said that I was making very good progress. I am supposed to be able to go back to work this week (the doctor needs to fax the damn Family and Medical Leave Act form to my HR office; gotta nag his office some more tomorrow). I am allowed to drive again. My car's battery, which was over five years old, died in the cold weather, so I had to have my car towed to a nearby service station Saturday. They replaced the battery today, and the car is running fine.
Bald follow-up. I had let my hair grow for a month, because at first I wasn't supposed to reach my hands behind my head to shave it, then I just decided to wait until my schedule was back to normal. So, after picking up my car, I went to the nearest barbershop and got it buzzed down to the scalp. The stubble comes off tonite. I definitely have decided that totally bald is the look for me!