Thursday, January 28, 2010

Monday - is Surgery Day



Daddy's new cardiologist calls him "Doc" and made an appointment with the cardiac surgeon under the name Doctor Hall! All of you who know Daddy will totally understand. He is a take-charge kind of man and had already made some conclusions and decisions about what they were going to probably tell him - he had done his research on heart disease already.

The tests from last week indicated very strongly that Daddy indeed has congestive heart failure. His pulmonologist referred him to a great cardiologist (mentioned above!) and there is lot’s of action going on right now. There was a heart cath scheduled for Wednesday, January 27th, with the understanding that most likely Daddy would be transferred to Hermann Hospital the same day, when it was completed, to have one or two stints put in. That plan changed quickly as you can see after reading on a bit.

Mama, Daddy, Kenneth, and I were at the hospital all day yesterday - January 27th. Dr. Oliverira went into Daddy's heart yesterday with the cath and found 80% blockage in one major artery -- but then they found a surprise -- he has a large aortic aneurism in that main artery feeding his heart. It's just above his mechanical (St. Jude's) heart valve. So they did not put in any stints and he's now been referred to a cardiac surgeon at St. Luke's Hospital - Dr. Coselli. He sees Dr. Coselli tomorrow morning/day sometime between the doctor's surgeries and then will probably have the surgery on Monday.  We have been told that Coselli is one of the best in the world. 

The doctors are looking at several options and may not know exactly what they do until they get in. They can replace the aneurism with a dacron graft, and do a stint on the blocked artery; they can replace the aneurism with a dacron graft, and do a bypass on the blocked artery; they can do the aneurism graft, and/or stint/bypass, and replace the 17 year old heart valve. So you can see that there are lots of possibilities. Part of this depends on the surgeon and how he feels Daddy can handle the surgery, how long daddy will be open, and other possible contingencies. Obviously the most optimum would be for the shortest time in surgery -- makes for the least trauma and a safer and easier recovery. They all have said that Daddy is in remarkably good condition for his age and so that helps with the surgery and recovery.

As far as we can tell from the other doctors that Daddy has seen recently -- because we have not heard this from the oncologist specifically -- Daddy's PET/CT scans are clear and not showing any evidence of the cancer at this time. So that is a good thing for sure. 






One of the best traits that my parents have, among their many others, is their unbelievable ability to look at life in the most positive light possible. Included in this is their always looking forward to new adventures and challenges, not back at life's mistakes. Sure there might be some -- but they always look forward to a bright and positive future. 

So, for those of you out West in Albuquerque, they won't be home for probably at least few more weeks. We will know more as Daddy recovers from the surgery and will keep you up to date.

Please keep Daddy and Mama in your prayers and thoughts and thank you for your love.

Laura


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