Supervisor Pat Herrity (R-Springfield), 52, underwent open-heart surgery today at 7 a.m., and is currently recovering in the intensive care unit at Inova Fairfax Hospital, according to a statement released by his office at approximately 3 p.m. Thursday, April 5. The surgery was conducted at Inova’s Heart and Vascular Institute by Dr. Alan Spier and Dr. Niv Ad, and the surgeons have informed the supervisor’s family that the surgery went as expected.

According to the surgeons, Herrity can expect to be out of the hospital in four to six days, and it will be four to six weeks before he can resume everyday activities.

In November of 2011, Herrity said he began having abnormal heart rhythms called atrial fibrillation (A-Fib). While A-Fib itself is not dangerous, and he did not have a heart attack or any heart damage, his doctors discovered an aortic aneurysm, a potentially life-threatening condition. After consulting with his doctors, Herrity said he made the decision to have both conditions addressed in surgery.

Supervisor Herrity was in good spirits before the surgery, stating: “I am optimistic about the surgery and look forward to working towards a full recovery. I am fortunate to be young for a heart surgery patient, I am active, regularly swimming and playing ice hockey, I have two world class surgeons performing the procedure, and I have the love and support of my wonderful family and many friends and supporters – it is truly amazing how many people have come up to me to wish me their best and tell me that they too have had heart surgery – it is very encouraging.”

Herrity’s Communications Director John Nolan will be keeping interested parties updated with the supervisor’s recovery through email and social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter. To subscribe to those feeds, visit www.facebook.com/patherrity and www.twitter.com/patherrity.