I apologize for the delay in this update, I know many of you have waited too long to hear news. The short of it is this: The surgery went well, Kristin should have a full recovery. I hope to have an opportunity to more fully explain what was involved very soon. A few brief specifics are worth throwing out at this point. The aneurysm in her aorta was larger than initially thought and required two tubes instead of one. This is not a big deal in regards to the surgery or Kristin's recovery, but indicates the blessing that it is to have had this surgery done now instead of later. Secondly, the valves at the end of the aorta needed to be replaced with pig valves. The ideal situation would have been to repair he original ones, but the animal valves are much better than synthetic ones... not ideal, but very good. Finally, Kristin had a few arteries that needed to be rearranged. Dr. K explained this all in much more detail and it is pretty amazing. For the time being I hope this gives some clarity and comfort. Keep praying as Kristin recuperates overnight and will hopefully be woken up and have the breathing tube removed in the morning.
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!
Yahoo! What a praise it is that Dr. K had the skilled hands to expertly "rearrange" her arteries and replace the valves. Thanks for posting the picture, Brady. It is somehow calming to me to see her looking confident and beautiful as always!
ReplyDeletePraying tonight with praise that God put the right doctors in her OR and praying for her comfort and calm in the morning when she wakes up.