Attention: TDR Forum Junkies 
Mack's open-heart was today. Got up at 4:30, had to be there by 5:30, paperwork and prep for the 7:30 surgery.
She was scared when the surgeon and doctors told her what was going to happen. I about cried when one doctor said, "You may remember something sometime during the surgery but its better that you remember something and be ok than to not remember anything and not make it. "
She was crying as I left but for some reason I wasn't as worried today for open-heart as I was for the simple catheter repair that open-heart fixed.
An hour into it the nurse came out to tell us she was on bypass and opened up and doing well. Then came out again to tell us she was off and that the surgeon would be out in 30 min.
He came out 45 min later since he wanted to stay a bit with her (very nice guy by the way) and said that all was well and she would be getting cleaned up and moved upstairs to the CCU (Coronary Care Unit).
He found out that one of the buttons from the non-invasive surgery did not work all the way (previous surgeon at fault?) and now its back to normal, and very glad she and everyone agreed open-heart was the best option. What they ended up doing was cutting the septum out and replacing it with a piece of the sac that covers the heart and stitching the sac hole back together, and when the heart muscle and blood forms around the new wall it will be almost as good as new.
We (her mom, dad from Kansas, and I) got to see her around noon and the breathing tube came out around 2:30. When I left at 8:45 to come back home for some decent sleep she was groggy but doing much better.
Before surgery she told me she was worried about her scar but told her if I had that done I would be showing that baby off. She said, "Yeah, but you're a guy, guys do that!" I agreed!
I will keep you all updated on her progress. Thanks for all your prayers and support!
P. S. -Memorial hospital bacon rocks!
She was scared when the surgeon and doctors told her what was going to happen. I about cried when one doctor said, "You may remember something sometime during the surgery but its better that you remember something and be ok than to not remember anything and not make it. "
She was crying as I left but for some reason I wasn't as worried today for open-heart as I was for the simple catheter repair that open-heart fixed.
An hour into it the nurse came out to tell us she was on bypass and opened up and doing well. Then came out again to tell us she was off and that the surgeon would be out in 30 min.
He came out 45 min later since he wanted to stay a bit with her (very nice guy by the way) and said that all was well and she would be getting cleaned up and moved upstairs to the CCU (Coronary Care Unit).
He found out that one of the buttons from the non-invasive surgery did not work all the way (previous surgeon at fault?) and now its back to normal, and very glad she and everyone agreed open-heart was the best option. What they ended up doing was cutting the septum out and replacing it with a piece of the sac that covers the heart and stitching the sac hole back together, and when the heart muscle and blood forms around the new wall it will be almost as good as new.
We (her mom, dad from Kansas, and I) got to see her around noon and the breathing tube came out around 2:30. When I left at 8:45 to come back home for some decent sleep she was groggy but doing much better.
Before surgery she told me she was worried about her scar but told her if I had that done I would be showing that baby off. She said, "Yeah, but you're a guy, guys do that!" I agreed!
I will keep you all updated on her progress. Thanks for all your prayers and support!
P. S. -Memorial hospital bacon rocks!
