Okay. Now that the surgery is scheduled for November 3rd, it's going to feel like a loooong four-week wait. I guess we'll work on getting work and bills and sundry other tasks taken care of before my hiatus from normal life kicks in.
A few adds/updates since my last post (which many of you may have seen in an e-mail from Juli):
Dr. Who? Surgeon's name is Dr. Mihaljevic (click the link to check out his bio). This link here has some additional background info, plus some online Q&A between the doc and some patients. Note that the questions are from 2007. Very interesting stuff. Dr. M is one of the docs who brought this procedure to the CC. He is 44 years old. He hired and trained another surgeon and they now perform between 250 and 350 non-invasive procedures per year.
Timing. We will be flying into Cleveland on Wed, October 29 and flying back to Indy on Saturday, November 8.
Some good news. The CC said my leakage and enlarged heart are not as severe as the docs indicated here in Indy. But they still need to fix it.
Pre-op. The pre-op appointment on October 30 will include blood tests, chest x-ray, echocardiogram, and a transesophageal echocardiogram (TEE) —you can probably guess by the name the route that's taken to capture the image. It gives the surgeon a much clearer (and posterior) look at the heart because the image isn't as obstructed by skin and muscles and organs and such. The TEE doesn't sound like much fun , but Juli said her Nana just had one during her recent stay at the hospital and they'll sedate me beforehand. Hey, it still beats the heck out of having my chest cracked open like a Thanksgiving turkey.
Smile. I'm supposed to see my dentist (Dr. Jack!) before we go to Cleveland to make sure I don't have any oral infections. Appointment is October 20th.
Operation notes. Just rec'd the package from the CC yesterday and it said that there will be three small incisions (I thought it was just one). Also, the surgery may be performed on or off pump (they may or may not stop and bypass my lungs and heart during surgery). I need to call and find out which one they'll be doing.
Important events while we are in Cleveland:
• Halloween. I'm sad that we'll miss seeing the kids on Halloween. It will be strange, but it makes more sense for us to stay in Cleveland. They'll have fun and get all sugared up with or without us. I'll just make sure grandma (or whoever's watching them that night) takes lots of pictures.
• Election day. I've already printed out the absentee ballot form online. Juli and I will each fill one out. They will send us a ballot and we will vote by mail. Not as inspiring or fulfilling as walking into the polls on election day and casting your vote, but it will have to do. Hmmm, who will it be??? The "maverick" or the "messiah"????
• Colts versus Patriots, which kicks off at 8:15 the night before my surgery. I will definitely stay up to watch the entire game. It doesn't really matter if I'm tired the day of surgery, right? As long as I don't oversleep (which I won't).
That's it for now. Maybe not many posts for a couple of weeks because we're just waiting at this point. Thanks to all those reading (and praying).
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