December 30, 2009 Health Update

The plan is for my surgery to be done in the latter part of January, after Elizabeth's birthday party, and after Diana's going back to school.

By then, the doctors expect my hemoglobin count to be at or above "normal" (it was slightly below normal when last tested), and my protein level (measured as blood albumin) to be "normal". My procrit (hormone that tells my bone marrow to make hemoglobin) dosage was increased from 4500 units twice a week to 5500 units twice a week, and I am continuing the protein supplement (30 grams of protein = 5 scoops of Beneprotein in a fruit smoothie) every night.

The surgery is to remove and replace the aortic valve in my heart with a pig valve. While they have my chest open and heart stopped, they will also handle a couple of partially blocked arteries while they are in there (kind of like your mechanic doing the main bearings on your car engine at the same time as the valve job since the engine is torn down anyways).

Because of the difficulty of opening up and working with a beating heart, the surgical team will necessarily stop my heart in order to do the work on it. This will be done through the miracle of Cardiopulmonary Bypass (CPB).

NOTICE that I did not write that the surgical team will kill me dead. They are only going to make my heart stop beating and me stop breathing.

The question, then, is this: since I am not breathing and have no beating heart, will I be "dead"?

I had this discussion with several people - will I remember being "dead"? At our family Christmas Eve dinner I told my niece, Noreen, that when I am "dead" that I would communicate with her. We agreed that I would cause one of her books ("The Lovely Bones") to fall out of her book shelf.


Disclaimer: SORRY - This is only what I know from my point of view. No lies, just what I see as the truth.