Open Heart Surgery

My story actually begins way back when I was eight years old. I had strep throat and during my visit to the doctor, it was discovered that I had a heart murmur. This led the doctor to believe that I had rheumatic fever which is a disease caused by the strep germ that can damage the heart valve. I was sent to the hospital where, I believe, I spent three days and it was determined that I did not have rheumatic fever. I was most likely born with the heart murmur and would probably outgrow it, which most children do.

Jump ahead 20 years and I was expecting my second child, DJ. My blood pressure was unusually high during this pregnancy and I was put on modified bed rest for the last 5 months of my pregnancy. It was assumed that the high blood pressure was caused by the pregnancy, but it did not go down after delivery. No one ever connected the heart murmur and the high blood pressure. Instead I was just given a pill to control it and that was the end of it.

Fast forward again about 10 years. I had just started seeing a new doctor (who I LOVE by the way) and was at my yearly physical. She told me that she could hear a heart murmur and I told her it had always been there and doctors always told me it was nothing. But during my entire physical I could tell she was distracted by something. At the end, she said she just wasn't comfortable calling the heart murmur nothing and she would feel a lot better if I would just meet with a cardiologist.

So off I went to the cardiologist. He did an ultrasound on my heart and wasn't totally comfortable with what he saw, so he decided he would do a TEE, which basically means they sedated me and put an ultrasound scope down my throat to get a closer look. This is what he found: First of all, I have a bicuspid valve (bottom). Normal valves are tricuspid (top). Because mine is bicuspid it doesn't close all the way, allowing some blood to flow back into my heart. This is what causes my heart murmur.

Second, I had an enlarged aorta. To put it in perspective, he said that he treats a 7 foot tall Jazz player and my aorta was bigger than his!

Last, I have what is called a coarctation. That is a narrowing, or pinching off, of the aorta that came after the enlargement. That is what causes my high blood pressure. My heart has to work harder to get the blood past the enlargement and through the narrow part. I felt like kind of a mess!

The cardiologist said he wasn't real worried about all that. Everything seemed to be working fine and I am young and healthy and stable so he just wanted me to come back once a year to be monitored.

So the next year (which was this past August) I went back. This time the cardiologist sent me for a CT scan. They put iodine dye through my blood vessels and then ran me through an x-ray to see how well my blood moved around my body. When I went back to the cardiologist after the test, he said my blood flow looked great, no blockages. But the enlargement had grown a lot and had become an aneurysm. He thought I ought to go meet with a thorasic surgeon and get his opinion on when to have surgery (not IF, but WHEN).

I went thinking it would be in a year or so. Maybe even next summer when I was off work. So imagine my shock when he told me he wanted to do the surgery Tuesday (it was Friday at the time). I managed to put him off at least until the next Friday so I could get some things prepared at school and home. That was the most awful stressful week of my life! I'm surprised my heart even made it that long! : )

First thing I did was call my parents because I was a little freaked out and I guess I freaked them out, too. They sent out an email to all my brothers/sisters and my aunt who then forwarded it to all my cousins and aunts/uncles. Before I knew it I had friends and family in 6 states and three continents fasting for me that Sunday. I also had several people say they had put my name on the prayer roll at the temple, including my substitute teacher who had never even met me! What an amazing feeling it is to know so many prayers and so much faith was being exercised on my behalf!

Mom and Dad were able to fly out, which took a lot of the stress off me. It helped so much to know that someone was here to take care of my kids, even though they are old enough to do most of it themselves. I am their mom, right? I have to know someone is here making sure their needs are met.

The following Thursday I checked into Intermountain Medical Center's Heart and Lung Institute. I spent the entire day meeting with doctors, surgeons, anesthesiologists, respiratory therapists, nurses, etc and touring the ICU, surgery area and recovery area. Oh, and as soon as I got there they gave me an anti-anxiety pill that made me feel so calm! I wish I could have brought some of that home! hehe

The next morning they woke me up at 5:00 a.m. and started preparing me. I had to take an anti-bacteria shower and get hooked up to a bunch of lines. The best part was when the nurse stuck some morphine in my butt! I don't remember much after that. I do remember them putting the little surgical hat on my head and I was freaking out because they didn't get all my hair in it! Then I kind of remember being wheeled into surgery but that's it. While I was in surgery, my heart was stopped and I was put on a bypass machine. My body temperature was dropped very low to protect my brain from any damage. The doctor cut out the aneurysm and replaced it with an artificial graft. He took a look at my valve and decided that for now it functions well enough and decided not to replace it. A valve replacement brings further complications down the road so if my current valve works, no need to go there. Also, my body has built a "highway" of what are called collateral vessels/arteries to work around the coarctation, so no need to repair that either! Amazing to think that my heart was stopped for several hours! Wow. I was in surgery for a total of 5 hours. My awesome brother Jason showed up in the waiting room to sit with Dean so he wouldn't have to sit there all by himself and worry.

After the operation the surgeon told me that the wall of the aneurysm was quite thin. It would not have lasted a whole lot longer.

The next thing I remember was being moved into a bed in ICU. Mom and Dad and Dean were there. Dean told me he had already been with me several hours, but I don't remember. Being in ICU was horrible. I had a tube down my throat and I really wanted it out, but they wouldn't take it out until I could stay awake, which of course I couldn't. Finally they just let me go to sleep and the next thing I knew I woke up and the tube was gone. I don't remember them taking it out. At night they wouldn't let Dean stay with me, so I was alone. The nurses were horrible. They were so loud out in the hall I had no hope of sleeping. My nurse told me that I was her only patient, but when I pushed the call button for pain meds, she never showed up. Oh was I glad to be moved to a regular room the next morning!

So I spent a week in the hospital recovering and getting stronger. It is much quieter up there, no noisy nurses. The only downside was when they flipped on the light at 5:00 am to take all my vitals and blood! Always scared me to death. My sweet husband stayed with me the entire time, only leaving my side when I made him go eat or run home to take a break for a few minutes and check on the kids. It was so nice to have him there so I didn't have to rely on nurses to help me walk to the bathroom or shower.

And here I am at home three weeks later. My recovery is going very well, but sometimes I get discouraged because of my limitations. I just want to be back to normal RIGHT NOW! Patience is not my strongest virtue. I have been so blessed by so many neighbors who showed up with dinner without even being "assigned" by the ward. Treats and gifts have showed up at my door when I needed it most. So many have called and said "I am going to the grocery store, what can I get you?" And my sister Amy gets me out of here a couple times a week for rehab and a little play time. Sometimes I wonder what I ever did to be so blessed to be surrounded by such great family and friends. But I am so grateful for all of it. Grateful to be healing quickly. Grateful to a doctor who followed her "gut" and probably saved my life. Most of all, grateful to a Heavenly Father who watches over me and protects me.