The Highland detachment is thinking of you all, Bob. Heart ops are no
picnic, but there are special circumstances in this case.
Piers
On 20/01/2012, Bob Whitmire <bwhitmire@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> Well, once again the call goes out for prayers, positive energy, good
> thoughts, etc., for No. 2 Son, Benjamin, who will be admitted to the Maine
> Medical Center on Sunday, and on Monday will undergo an aerobic valve
> replacement.
>
> You may recall back in December 2010 when Ben suffered congestive heart
> failure and we almost lost him. Your positive energy was much appreciated at
> the time. though the past year he has shown slow and steady improvement in
> his heart function, to the point where now his cardiologist and cardiac
> surgeon believe he's well enough to undergo the surgery. We've got a real
> cracker-jack of a surgeon, so there are no worries in that department.
>
> The plan is a Ross Procedure, which is where the surgeon replaces the
> aerobic valve with the patient's pulmonary valve, and then replaces the
> pulmonary valve with either a cadaver valve or an animal valve. The benefit
> of the Ross Procedure is that the patient does not require blood thinners,
> as would be the case with an artificial valve. The surgeon did warn us,
> however, that once he gets in, he may have to fall back to an artificial
> valve if Ben's pulmonary valve doesn't seem a likely candidate for moving.
> In that case, he plans to use an experimental (in the US) On-X valve (which
> has been approved for use in other parts of the world for a _long_ time).
> The benefit of the On-X valve is that Ben will need Plavix rather than
> Coumadin.
>
> We were amazed that they typical hospital stay for this surgery is 4-5 days.
> Who'd-a-thunk? And, if you're interested, the Ross Procedure is the subject
> of a series of YouTube videos under the auspices of the Cleveland Clinic. I
> was astonished as I watched the operation (severely condensed) at how
> capable and confident the surgeons were. Ben's family practice doctor, who
> was in the Air Force before setting up private practice, calls it "Fighter
> Pilot Mentality." (Go, Chris!) He says these types of surgeons are like
> fighter pilots: they're so well trained and so confident that it never
> occurs to them that they can't do it, and they are extremely capable of
> reacting to any contingency. After viewing the video, I believe it. <g>
>
> The issue, other than standard dangers of this type of surgery, is that Ben,
> who has autism and mental retardation, doesn't understand what needs to be
> done. He has no incentive to cooperate. Fortunately, the surgeon has done
> this operation on children and other mentally handicapped individuals, so
> he's confident that he and the hospital staff can manage any issues that
> arise. To date the staff has been most compassionate and helpful, and has
> kept in touch to keep us apprised of their plans. For example, contrary to
> policy, Ben should get a room by himself so as not to cause some other poor
> soul to suffer loud outbursts, etc. They've also worked with us to
> streamline the admission process on Sunday so has to minimize anxiety
> provoking incidents that come with waiting around for clerical details to be
> ironed out.
>
> At any rate, I'm planning to take a laptop with me next week, and good lord
> willin' and the crick don't rise, will be on and off, messing around with
> stuff, including this list.
>
> But in the event I'm not, have a happy thought for Ben on
> Monday--particularly you UK and Continent types, who can get the positive
> energy flowing while Ben's still asleep. <g> At the moment, the surgery is
> scheduled for 6:15 a.m., but he could be bumped until later in the day for
> any of a number of reasons, mostly having to do with patients in more acute
> distress.
>
> Thanks in advance!
>
> --Bob
>
>
>
>
> --
> _________________________________________________________________
> Options: http://lists.thomasclausen.net/mailman/listinfo/olympus
> Archives: http://lists.thomasclausen.net/mailman/private/olympus/
> Themed Olympus Photo Exhibition: http://www.tope.nl/
>
>
--
_________________________________________________________________
Options: http://lists.thomasclausen.net/mailman/listinfo/olympus
Archives: http://lists.thomasclausen.net/mailman/private/olympus/
Themed Olympus Photo Exhibition: http://www.tope.nl/
|