upcoming surgery

Well, the secret’s out. I'm scheduled to have surgery to repair the narrowing of my aorta on November 12. I’ve known about the surgery for about a month now, but haven't had the time or the energy to sit down and write the details. There’s something about writing it all out that allows the reality of it to sink in. Here’s the scoop:

The prelude...
At age 2, during a physical, it was discovered that I have a heart murmur. Lots of tests were done then and in the years that followed, only for the doctors to declare it a "functional heart murmur". Because there were no other symptoms, there was reason to believe there was nothing "wrong". Around age 16, I developed borderline hypertension, which then developed
into hypertension in my early twenties. At that point, I went to see a cardiologist, we'll call her Dr. First. Essentially she did what I thought to be a through examination, followed by kidney tests, EKGs, and other tests. All the tests came back to report that I was in good health other
than a heart condition that I have called a "bi-cuspid valve". She told me it wouldn’t be anything to worry about until later in life. She prescribed high blood pressure medicine and sent me on my way.

When I became pregnant with Elena, I was considered "high-risk" because of my hypertension. Looking back it is absolutely amazing to me how God watched over Elena and protected her (and me) from any complications. During Elena’s first year I started feeling like getting a second opinion. I didn’t feel like I had a good explanation for my high blood pressure and I just kept feeling a “nudge” to find some answers.

I sought my second opinion with a cardiologist that both my parents had gone to and were very impressed with. On the first visit he began the physical examination by checking the pulses. He said he didn’t feel any pulses in my feet and very faint ones in my groin. He then ordered extensive blood tests, which revealed that I have high cholesterol. And a CT scan, which revealed that I have a coarctation (narrowing) of my aorta.

The diagnosis…
As described here by The American Heart Association:

The aorta is the body's main artery. It distributes oxygen-rich blood to all parts of the body except the lungs. The first branches of the aorta go to the upper body (arms and head). After that, blood goes to the lower body (abdomen and legs). Coarctation of the aorta is a narrowing of the aorta between the upper-body artery branches and the branches to the lower body. This blockage can increase blood pressure in your arms and head, reduce pressure in your legs and seriously strain your heart. Aortic valve abnormalities often accompany coarctation.

The condition is often accompanied by a heart murmur, high blood pressure, valve abnormalities… which I have. I have horrible memory when it comes to anatomy, so my condition didn’t make much sense until I saw this picture:

The surgery…

My cardiologist referred me to a surgeon, who has recommended cutting out the area of coarctation and replacing it with a Dakron graft. It's major surgery and will require going in the through my back, right under my shoulder blade and opening up my ribs to get to the particular area of narrowing. With my aorta at a normal size, my legs should start receiving adequate blood flow and the blood pressure will not continue to increase and will possibly go back to normal altogether. The alternative of not having surgery is that my blood pressure will continue to increase meaning that my chances for a reduced blood pressure continue to decrease with time. There is also the risk that, should I get pregnant again, my blood pressure will increase and be unmanageable, even with medication endangering me and the baby. I've seen an article showing that many people with my condition, that go untreated, don't live much beyond 50 years old. There are some risks involved with the surgery, 1-2% risk of paraplegia and a 1-2% risk of death.

As a sidenote, I learned the value of getting a second opinion with my cardiologist, so Peter and I decided that it would be wise to get a second opinion on the surgery. The second surgeon had the same recommendation as my original surgeon, which has further confirmed our decision that I should have surgery.

The surgery is on Wednesday, November 12 and I’ll check in at 6am. It'll take about 3 hours. I’ll spend the first night in the ICU and will possibly have a breathing machine (ugh!). My total time in the hospital will be between 5-7 days. When I get home, my recovery time is expected to be around 6 weeks… which puts me right at December 31st. In terms of pain, my surgeon said it is more painful than open heart surgery and I’ll feel pain for the entire 7 weeks. As it looks now, I won’t be able to lift Elena for that time period as well.

This brings me to a great point… I’ll need lots of prayer! As many of you know, I’m a wimp when it comes to pain, so I know that God is going to have to carry me through this and supply my strength. In the next day or two, I’ll post a specific prayer list for those of you who would like to pray. I believe that God is my healer and that He will restore me, carry me and bring me and my family through this new challenge.