The Nitty Gritty

So what is actually going to happen to me? That's a great question.

The Doctors:
Let me start by saying I have a great team of doctors looking after me. My cardiologist really knows his stuff. He puts everything in ways that even your average ski bum (me) can understand. And my surgeon has been implanting artificial valves like the one im getting since before I was born.

Dr. Bilnoski (Cardiologist) has been practicing since 1984. I was one year old then. He puts everything in a way that makes sense to an average guy like me. No big doctor talk. And no matter how silly the questions I ask may seem, he always approaches them in a serious manner and gives me a straight up answer, whether I want to hear it or not. And his staff is phenomenal. They really look out for me and make it personal. They want me to be healthy and succeed. A big thanks to Rene for keeping a close eye on me. Having an ally on the inside is great and I can't say enough good things about her and everything she has done for me and the family.

Dr. Luber (Surgeon) is brilliant. We can just leave it at that. He was the first to implant a St. Jude Valve in a patient. (That's the valve I'm getting) He did that back in 1981, at least I think that's what he said. He has done "hundreds" of these procedures. He makes what I am sure is a fairly complex procedure sound like he could do it with his eyes closed. And he said he would record the whole thing for me. That's right, movie night, you bring the popcorn and I'll bring the open heart surgery.

The procedure:
According to Dr. Luber the procedure is pretty straight forward. Once they get to my heart through my breast bone they will put me on the heart lung machine and evacuate all the blood from my heart. At that point they will put a fluid in my heart to make it cold and stop it from beating. They will then remove the bad valve and replace it with a mechanical St. Jude Valve. Dr. Luber will also be looking at my Aortic artery that has began to enlarge due to the leaky valve. Depending on how large it is and where the enlargement is he may replace a portion of it or just remove a small vertical piece and sew the artery shut to make is normal size again. It's a "game time" decision. After that they will make sure everything is sewn up and allow blood back into my heart. They will put a small pin hole in the bottom of my heart and tip my feet above my head to let all the air out of my heart. Air bubbles in your blood are no good. Once that is done they will get my heart going again and close everything up. Including my breast bone with stainless steel wires. Sounds fun huh? The surgery should only be about four hours long. You can get some more info from the Clevand Clinic's Website. Or if your feeling really adventurous feel free to Google image search Aortic Valve Replacement. Warning it may be a little much for those of you who are a bit squimish.

Recovery:
After the surgery is complete they will take me up to the ICU and I will spend the next four to seven days in the hospital for observation. I should be up and walking the day after surgery. I'll be down for four to six weeks at home. A full recovery will be somewhere around six months. However, once I'm back I'll be running at 100%. The only really down side is that I will be taking Coumadin or some other anti-coagulant for the rest of my life. But hey that's a pretty small price to pay for a healthy heart.

Keep an eye on this blog and I will do my best to keep everyone updated. I appreciate everyone who has been supporting me through this process. I'll do my best to make another post before surgery and then I should have plenty of time to post once I'm out of the hospital.