Rise and shine

Rise and shine
My bed has wheels!!!

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Day two, or is it day one? oh these meds...


If yesterday produced a cumulative and corporate sigh of relief, today might best be described as the day when we all let out a sigh of pain. Kristin is certainly doing well – very well in fact, but the surgery is simply not minor. It is hard for us to see her in pain and it is obviously hard for her since she is in pain. The pain medication makes Kristin nauseous and she wants to avoid using it too much. We all know how tough Kristin is and none of us are surprised by her ability to grin and bear it; she really is a phenomenal young woman.  She has already begun occupational therapy… yeah, they don't fool around here! All of this, the therapy, the drugs, the trauma and the pain result in a very tired Kristin. Again, we are all doing well, Kristin is strong; but, dear friends and family, we want to be honest with you and the next few days will be especially painful (physically and emotionally) for Kristin.  Thank you again for thinking of us, encouraging us and praying for us. You have all been a great comfort and blessing. By the end of today Kristin had received a blood transfusion that seemed to give her more energy and lesson the pain a bit. The entire medical staff has been amazing and our list of blessings in the midst of such a trying time grows moment by moment. And now... rest.

On a side note... Kristin was thankfully too groggy to fully appreciate the appalling umpiring in the Texas/NY game - fan interference again?! Go Rangers.
Shalom,
Brady
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3 comments:

  1. UnknownOctober 20, 2010 at 2:34 AM

    We love you, Nelsons! We are praying for you all. I wish I could take the pain away, and I hate to hear that she is hurting. It is comforting to know that she is surrounded by a great medical staff and by her amazing family. I am praying for rest and peace for all of you.

    ReplyDelete
  2. MeredithOctober 20, 2010 at 2:34 PM

    Nellie!!! So proud of you, and I love getting these amazing updates. God is completely with you and your family, and I can't wait to see you soon!

    xoxo,
    Mer

    P.S.- Brady, living with these Yankee fans is nightmarish! Here's to another great game that will hopefully take care of all their grumbling!!

    ReplyDelete
  3. UnknownOctober 20, 2010 at 3:02 PM

    Kristin,

    One of our current tour managers, Tim Smith, sent me an email that I thought I would share with you. Prayers and thoughts are with you - Take Care!

    Subject: HEAL WELL, from Tim and Heather

    "This message is from one of Kristin's former field managers, I worked for her for two years on STATE FARM FAN EXPERIENCE, I was shocked to hear about Kristin's heart, although we already knew it was a big one! I saw her running on a treadmill one day and she was going like a hundred miles and hour, so I know if anything she is going to be running circles in that hospital bed ready to get back to her shoes and 'sweatband with a Miley Cirus logo on it,' tell her for me I will be thinking and wishing her a speedy recovery. If she needs me to burn her a couple of Miley cd's, I got it covered. Me and Heather are wishing you a safe and healthy recovery. Please let me know if there is anything I can help with, like taxes." -Tim Smith

    ReplyDelete

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The basics of my surgery:


This August, I was at a check up and my doctor heard a heart murmur and told me to go see a Cardiologist. Over the last 4 weeks, I have been doing multiple procedures to find out exactly what was wrong with my heart and how it could be fixed. After a few procedures, I met with a surgeon in Dallas and it was recommended that I have open heart surgery. I decided that if i needed this procedure, I would rather be in St. Louis with my family to have it done.

Two weeks ago I went for a second opinion in St. Louis. All the doctors that I have met with have confirmed that I need to move forward with open heart surgery. There are no other less-invasive options for the type of surgery I have to do. I will have the surgery done in St. Louis at Missouri Baptist Hospital on October 18th.

The doctor will be performing 2 procedures during the surgery to fix two problems. I technically have an Ascending Aortic Aneurism, which as led to an enlarged aorta. My aorta is 5.1 centimeters, which is double the size of the average aorta. To fix the aorta they will replace the enlarged part with a dacron polyester tube. This will stay in my heart for the rest of my life. Over time the tissue will grow over the new aorta. The second part of the procedure is to fix my valves. My valves are what cause the heart murmur and essentially the cause of the enlarged aorta. Until they open up my heart, they can't determine exactly how they will fix the valves. The first option is to surgically fix them using my current tissue. If that is not an option, they will replace the valves with an animal valve. The surgery will take approximiately 4 hours, then I'll be in recovery at the hospital for about 5 days before I am able to go home and rest for about 6 weeks.

To answer a few questions:
Did I know about this? No, I did not know until a little over a month ago that anything was wrong. I knew when I was young that I had a heart murmur, but over the years Cardiologists have told me nothing was wrong.
Do I feel okay? Yes, I still feel like my normal self. There were no indications that I had anything wrong, other than the doctor first hearing my murmur.
Will I be able to resume normal activity post surgery? Yes, after a few weeks of recovery I should be able to resume my normal activities. It may just take a while to feel comfortable playing sports for a while.

Thanks for everyone for your thoughts and prayers. It means a lot to my family to have so many people supporting us, we can't thank you enough!

If anyone is around St. Louis, feel free to stop by! Visitors are welcome!