18 MONTHS AND SURGERY
This surgery went unbelievably well! The Doctors decided on a modified Konno procedure. The toughest part of me was the pre-surgery time. I was searching everywhere for information on this procedure and found very little. My advice to anyone else looking for it, is to look at all information on the Ross-Konno and subtract the Ross. The Ross part is a valve replacement, the slicing-dicing and patching part is the Konno.
A week before his surgery we confirmed that his Coronary Artery was "in the way." The Surgeon has to go in at a specific angle to get to the aorta, and the artery was blocking his path. This REALLY added to the complication of the surgery, but we were lucky in that it was spotted before the surgeon went in. Our Cardiologist told us that sometimes the artery can hide beneath the heart muscle and it is not discovered until the Surgeon slices it and the patient begins to bleed out. So I thank God that we knew going in. The doctors made sure to prepare me for all the risks involved, from a possible pace maker, to deterioration of the heart muscle which would lead to a transplant, to death. I was VERY scared this time, ten times more than the other surgeries. |
