Scarier and scarier
Dec. 16th, 2004 12:33 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kukla_tkoAt least My Father and the rest of the family had the grace to be shocked and surprised that I didn't have a clue about the news.
Papa even sent out an email message to the family, which I doubt would have happened if my StepMom hadn't told him about my nasty surprise today.
Here's the update, BTW:
(From Papa):
Dear Family and Friends,
This Friday morning, December 17, I will be having Dr (name removed)
perform open heart surgery to repair my leaking mitral valve, at St Mary's
Hospital in St Louis.
I learned this week that some of you are unaware that this was in the
offing. Here is the background. A heart murmur showed up at my annual
checkup with Dr (name removed) in August, 2002. He sent me for an
echocardiogram, which showed the leaking mitral valve, and then he
recommended a cardiologist. The cardiologist has done several more
echocardiograms, as well as a transesophageal cardiogram and a
catheterization. Everything is fine with my arteries and veins, but the
backflow is getting worse and the left ventricle is enlarging. Pulse,
respiration, blood pressure, thyroid are all still normal.
The doctors all say that surgery now will take care of all the trouble,
but that waiting as little as 6 months is flirting seriously with
long-term danger. Now at last, I am done with: SLUH employment, 4 years of
Chinese study, fixing the garage, making the house
no-longer-a-strictly-boys'-house, the trip to China, this year's
weightlifing competitions, and this year's taiji workshops.
The surgeon says he does not expect that I will need any blood; if I
wanted to provide a unit autologously, he would wait six weeks afterwards
before operating. He does this procedure several times a month, and he is
committed to repair (as opposed to replacement) if at all possible.
The expected hospitalization is a matter of days (not weeks), and the
recovery is expected to be a matter of weeks (not months). Sue will be
taking good care of me, and her longtime friend, Patty Rudolph RN (who now
works at Susan Cuddihee's Bethesda) will be paying a lot of attention.
Maybe I will be able to get back to wrestling practice at the end of
January.
Merry Christmas 2004 and Happy 2005
++++
Merry Christmas, Indeed. Provided that he doesn't DIE under the knife and chainsaw, or from infection or complications afterwards.
Christmas plans are all jacked up now, too. At this point, we will see seats-of-pants fly in a Christmas Miracle.
Whine. Bitch. Complain.
(Reel in terror.)
![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
minidoc, if you're reading this, some reassurance would be an excellent Christmas Present.
As would post-surgery gift ideas for the recovering Papa. I already intend to provide him with a large squooshy stuffed creature to hug when he has to cough or laugh or something. I seem to recall my Grandpa using one after his open-heart surgery.
Papa even sent out an email message to the family, which I doubt would have happened if my StepMom hadn't told him about my nasty surprise today.
Here's the update, BTW:
(From Papa):
Dear Family and Friends,
This Friday morning, December 17, I will be having Dr (name removed)
perform open heart surgery to repair my leaking mitral valve, at St Mary's
Hospital in St Louis.
I learned this week that some of you are unaware that this was in the
offing. Here is the background. A heart murmur showed up at my annual
checkup with Dr (name removed) in August, 2002. He sent me for an
echocardiogram, which showed the leaking mitral valve, and then he
recommended a cardiologist. The cardiologist has done several more
echocardiograms, as well as a transesophageal cardiogram and a
catheterization. Everything is fine with my arteries and veins, but the
backflow is getting worse and the left ventricle is enlarging. Pulse,
respiration, blood pressure, thyroid are all still normal.
The doctors all say that surgery now will take care of all the trouble,
but that waiting as little as 6 months is flirting seriously with
long-term danger. Now at last, I am done with: SLUH employment, 4 years of
Chinese study, fixing the garage, making the house
no-longer-a-strictly-boys'-house, the trip to China, this year's
weightlifing competitions, and this year's taiji workshops.
The surgeon says he does not expect that I will need any blood; if I
wanted to provide a unit autologously, he would wait six weeks afterwards
before operating. He does this procedure several times a month, and he is
committed to repair (as opposed to replacement) if at all possible.
The expected hospitalization is a matter of days (not weeks), and the
recovery is expected to be a matter of weeks (not months). Sue will be
taking good care of me, and her longtime friend, Patty Rudolph RN (who now
works at Susan Cuddihee's Bethesda) will be paying a lot of attention.
Maybe I will be able to get back to wrestling practice at the end of
January.
Merry Christmas 2004 and Happy 2005
++++
Merry Christmas, Indeed. Provided that he doesn't DIE under the knife and chainsaw, or from infection or complications afterwards.
Christmas plans are all jacked up now, too. At this point, we will see seats-of-pants fly in a Christmas Miracle.
Whine. Bitch. Complain.
(Reel in terror.)
minidoc, if you're reading this, some reassurance would be an excellent Christmas Present.As would post-surgery gift ideas for the recovering Papa. I already intend to provide him with a large squooshy stuffed creature to hug when he has to cough or laugh or something. I seem to recall my Grandpa using one after his open-heart surgery.
