THE CONSULT

Dr. Razook came in at 6:30 to talk to Kristi about her surgery. He has performed her last 2 operations, so he's very familiar with her heart. He had a quick meeting with Dr. Bansal and Dr. Jutzy before coming up. They looked at the films, the Echo's of her heart from yesterday, the images from the T.E.E. that was just performed and her chart.

He started the conversation with "You are going to be OK." He agreed, obviously, that her Aortic valve needed to be replaced. He said that although it will be difficult, it is nothing out of the ordinary for that part of the surgery. The one thing that may be tricky about this operation has to do with her coronary artery. In the place it attached to the heart, the measurement is 4.7cm. The maximum size of the opening they can operate on is 5.0cm. So she is very close to that. He said that if it was that size, they would have to do something more "major." They may put something around the artery to prevent it from getting larger in the future.

After talking with the other doctors they are leaning towards not replacing her Pulmonic valve. There is no calcification on it, there are no signs of leaks or distress...so they are thinking why fix it if it's OK. The bummer part is that it may, some day, wear out again...and we will be going through this all over again. I do trust these doctors and they are looking out for her best interest, but the decision is still up to her.

He wants to do the surgery on Monday or Tuesday afternoon. He wants her to continue on the Lasix and lose all that excess water in her system. She needs to eat, get stronger, continue to heal from her C-section and stabilize her blood chemistry. That way she will have a greater chance of survival.

So for the next 4 days we will all rest, spend lots of time together and try to have as much fun as possible. Kristi is moving to another room that has portable telemetry equipment so she can go just outside the CCU to spend time with Harrison and Hudson.

[Posted with iBlogger from my iPhone]