Good morning! It's about 5:45 and we are hanging out in the hospital reception area. Kristin has begun the paperwork (who knows how long that will take…). We all seem to be somewhat at ease after an admittedly restless night. Even though we are trying to be an encouragement to Kristin, she is more of an encouragement to us as she is handling this day with grace and a calm spirit. We also want you to know the BCS poll was published and Mizzou is #11, just another reason that today is already looking good.
7:30 Kristin ran off about ½ an hour ago to do pre-op stuff. We just got to see her before they wheeled her off for surgery. She is amazingly calm; the drugs may be a bit of a help in that regard ;-)
The internet at the hospital has a filter that keeps me from posting on blogs (its, like, a place of business or something...). I'll do my best to keep ya'll updated, but we don't expect to hear any news until later this afternoon. Again, we are incredibly thankful for your encouraging words, prayers and visits!
Shalom,
Brady
Rise and shine
My bed has wheels!!!
Monday, October 18, 2010
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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!
Does it block twitter and/or email?
ReplyDeleteLots of prayers and support from here!
-Other Brady
Many prayers to you Kristin, your positivity and faith are an inspiration. ~ Erin Wasson
ReplyDelete