As Brady mentioned in a previous blog, the surgery was more extensive than expected. My aorta was bigger than originally thought, so 2 polyester tubes were placed in my heart. A few of my arteries were messed up as well, which was originally unknown. We decided that Dr. K was probably like a kid in a candy store when he saw this. Excited that he had something else he could fix, and according to him something he only sees about once a year.
In the cardiac center of the hospital were some replicas and images of hearts and what the doctors use to fix them. Below is the best I can do to show you what is now inside me. The best part is, my heart is now stronger and healthier than it ever has been, so I'm not sure what's next for the fastest white girl in Missouri....but it's gonna be big!
Normal Healthy Heart |
This image shows the aortic aneurysm. The large 'bubble' is not normal (compare to the normal heart). The entire aneurysm was cut out of my aorta and replaced with the polyester tubes. |
This is the actual size of the dacron polyester tubes that replaced my Aorta |
Pig Valve- This was used to replace my valves |