A NEW DAY

3/12/09 - 9:30am

Last night was pretty uneventful. Aside from the man next door screaming at 4am we slept rather soundly. I got about five or so hours in so I am feeling much better. Kristi slept a little bit longer than me, but the nurses check on her every hour and the blood pressure cuff checks her every 15 minutes it is hard to get into a deep sleep. But she is feeling a little more refreshed. Her body hurts from lying in bed for so many days...

I was up at 5, took a walk and got some breakfast. Got Kristi a plate of fresh fruit and a blueberry muffin. She was still sleeping when I came back up so I left it for her, gave her a kiss and went to Phil and Kathy's house to surprise Harrison when he woke up. We had breakfast together and I took him to his school (day-care place). Although this is such a horrible thing for his mommy to go through, I am really thankful that he is so little and can't understand what is going on.

While I was gone, Dr. Razook came in to see Kristi and talk with her. He basically recapped the discussion we had with him yesterday. Aortic valve needs a full replacement, Pulmonic will probably not be done. The tube that connects the aortic valve to the coronary artery will most likely be replaced as well due to the dilation of the natural one that is currently there. He explained that this is what makes this surgery complicated and is the reason why they won't do the Pulmonic valve. He said that since they have to do so much already, and because the surgery is going to be so difficult (his words), there is no reason to add anything to something that is already going to be hard to do. Although Kristi does not want to come in again for another procedure later in life, she gets it. Dr. Razook will be discussing her case in more detail with her other doctors over the coming days and will most likely be coming to us with more information.

The great news is that Dr. Bailey, her pediatric surgeon that worked on her when she was 15 is not only going to consult with her current doctors, he is going to scrub in for her procedure. He is a world-renowned, ground-breaking, extraordinarily technical cardiothorasic surgeon who's claim to fame is being the surgeon that did the baboon heart transplant back in the 80's. Although he is now semi-retired, he is making a point to be there for her operation. He was paramount in making LLUMC one of the top hospitals in the nation for heart care. As the nurses say, she has the A-Team in terms of doctors working on her.