Today
After much debate, Niki will be having heart surgery Thursday or Friday to replace her mitral valve. The plan is to go through her side instead of her chest because of her back. They will be using a cow or pig valve. They don't want to use a mechanical valve because they don't want her on blood thinner with back surgery coming up next. She is at Barnes Jewish here in St. Louis and Dr. Marc Moon will be doing the surgery. They are waiting a couple of days to get some fluid off of her and collecting all her medical history from back home. Hopefully everything goes well and she can get her back fixed later this Fall.
Friday
Well, we got a phone call late yesterday afternoon and the anesthesia department had some concerns about some red flags in my wife's medical history. They sent us to the Center for Advanced Medicine-South County today for a second opinion on her heart condition. After reviewing everything and talking to the spine surgeon, they felt it was best to have heart surgery before such a high risk back surgery. She is still having surgery next week at Barnes Jewish, but now it's open heart surgery to replace her mitral valve. If everything goes well, we will return home and then come back in 3-4 months for back surgery.
Thursday
Thanks for all the prayers guys. We made it in last night and spent all day at the hospital. She had a spinal CT myelogram, then it was off to x-rays followed up with a meeting with the surgeon and part of his staff. After meeting with the surgeon, she had to go through the CPAP presurgery evaluation and going over all of her medical history. The surgeon said it was going to be a big surgery and would take all day. He said there was a possibility that it could turn into a 2 day surgery, with the second one being 3-4 days later. It will all depend on how things go with the first surgery and how much progress he makes, including removing all of the existing hardware. Once that is done, he will have to take a wedge out of her spine to hopefully get her straight again, and then replacing all of the hardware including new rods and screws. Only this time, it will be more extensive and time consuming because he will anchor everything to her pelvic bones. She has to have a central line put in Friday morning and then surgery Monday morning. I will update again next week after the surgery.
Monday
We are leaving in the morning for St. Louis, MO. My wife is having MAJOR back surgery at Barnes Jewish Hospital. They will be removing all of this broken hardware and replacing it, but this time they are attaching it to her hip bones to secure it. She had the initial surgery in 2012 for Scoliosis, a surgery she still regrets to this day. What was supposed to make her better for the long term has turned into a nightmare or literally a living hell for her. In 2014, she bent over slightly to put a DVD in the player and one of the rods popped. She said it sounded like a .22 rifle it was so loud. We went to St. Louis later that year where she was referred because her original surgeon felt the repair was too complicated for anyone here in MS to attempt. We scheduled surgery for the Spring of 2015, but she started have some other health issues and we had to cancel it. Since that time, she has been dealing with Lupus, which they now believe is Scleroderma. More recently, she has been fighting pulmonary hypertension in her lungs and a couple of weeks ago, she was diagnosed with Mitral Valve Stenosis. After reviewing everything, her cardiologist felt she was okay for now with the heart issue and recommended getting her back fixed before addressing the mitral valve. She is only 38 years old, but she is in terrible shape right now. Her posture is almost a 45-degree angle and she has lost 4 inches in height since the rod broke. She has been a stay at home mom since our son was born with Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome and had three open heart surgeries before he was two years old. He is now 13, but has Autism and is completely non-verbal. It's been a struggle for her, but she puts him ahead of her struggles on a daily basis. The top picture below was taken in 2014 right after the rod broke, and the bottom picture was taken last month when we went back to Barnes Jewish for a surgery consultation. Surgery is scheduled for August 20th, a week from today but she has to have some tests done this week prior to surgery. She is nervous and scared, but at the same time so ready to get a piece of her life back.
Thanks,
Jody
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God bless your family. Prayers for your wife and for the Lord to guide the surgeon.
Strength and peace for your wife and your family.
Good thoughts and prayers to you and your wife
Prayers for your family..may you all have strength
Prayers for your family.
Praying for wife and family.
Praying for your wife and family Jody. Yall hang in there buddy. God will see here through.
Thoughts and prayers to your wife and family. Be strong and keep the faith!
Praying for you all.
I couldn't imagine living life in pain. Praying for her recovery!
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Oh man !! Prayers for sure !
Prayers sent.
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Prayers sent.
:mycross: :bible: :jesus-cross:
Prayers, I mean a bunch of prayers for her and the entire family.
In my prayers.....
Prayers sent
Jody,
Praying you you, Niki and Coleman. If there is anything we can do to help please let us know.
Fred
You and your family certainly have a lot to deal with. Prayers up for a successful surgery and some relief for your wife...and a blessing for you because this can't be easy on you either. :bible:
Lot's of prayers
Prayers for your wife, surgery team, you and your family.
Prayers for your wife and family, may the Lord guide the surgeon and may she have a good recovery
Prayers for your wife and the rest of the family!!
Prayers for your family and wishing a speedy recovery.
:jesus-cross:
X2
Prayers for her, you and your family and that God's will be done in this. Also that God would guide all the doctors in nurses in treating her.
:cross2: Prayers! God bless all of you.
God Bless you and your family Jody! I hope your wife has a successful surgery along with a full recovery!
Prayers for your wife and may God bless you and the rest of your family in this difficult time!
Thanks for all the prayers guys. We made it in last night and spent all day at the hospital. She had a spinal CT myelogram, then it was off to x-rays followed up with a meeting with the surgeon and part of his staff. After meeting with the surgeon, she had to go through the CPAP presurgery evaluation and going over all of her medical history. The surgeon said it was going to be a big surgery and would take all day. He said there was a possibility that it could turn into a 2 day surgery, with the second one being 3-4 days later. It will all depend on how things go with the first surgery and how much progress he makes, including removing all of the existing hardware. Once that is done, he will have to take a wedge out of her spine to hopefully get her straight again, and then replacing all of the hardware including new rods and screws. Only this time, it will be more extensive and time consuming because he will anchor everything to her pelvic bones. She has to have a central line put in Friday morning and then surgery Monday morning. I will update again next week after the surgery.
Prayers for your wife!
I have a cousin who lives on the outskirts of New Orleans who went through a very similar ordeal with a scoliosis surgery that did not go well. She was in excruciating pain and her whole body was visibly contorted. Her curvature was where her spine entered her brain and surgeries were actually considered brain surgeries.
She was referred to a surgeon in New York who was acclaimed to be the world's foremost authority on her type of surgery. She was desperate but hopeful. This surgery and surgeon ended up being a Godsend. It is absolutely a miracle what it has done for her and she is able to do things she never thought she would be able to do again ...such as driving a vehicle.
I pray your wife has a similar experience and can take this as encouragement that there is hope.
Not quite sure how to word this but I will try. Ask them if there is a way that they can make it so areas that will be laid on all day can somehow be cushioned, the reason I bring that up is I have a friend that has nerve damage to his hands from being on his stomach side all day without any kind of movement. (He also has very extensive hardware in his back from cancer surgeries.) Back then they did not have them but now they have some air cushions that can be inflated and deflated as they lie there to help prevent that problem. Not sure it can be done with a back surgery but I did want to bring that up to you.
Wishing her all the best!!!!
"But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed."
??Isaiah? ?53:5? ?NKJV??http://bible.com/114/isa.53.5.nkjv
Praying healing for your wife Nikki!
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God bless, praying for you guys!
Jody my heart and prayers are with you and your wife. May the surgeons hands and knowledge be from God. Have Faith brother and God will see you and your wife through this. ALL things are possible with God. I'll definitely be praying and thinking of both of you on Monday. Please keep us updated.
Prayers sent
You both have my prayers, my compassion and my heartfelt sympathy. I went through a few years of my wife's back problems. At times I cared for her as almost totally disabled. We were finally directed to a top notch surgeon and he repaired her back. During that same time she had a blockage in her heart and the pain meds caused an almost fatal bleed in her colon. The hospital staff sent me home because I was exhausted during that episode and I laid at home wondering if I would ever see her alive again. I done the only thing I could, I gave her over to Jesus! The next morning I walked into her room afraid of what I would find, only to see her sitting up eating breakfast. A nurse turned to me and said your wife has got us all shaking our heads and all pretty excited. The bleeding had stopped and her blood levels were normal and she was wanting to come home. Later that day a doctor finally conceded it was a miraculous healing. That was 20 years ago and she is strong and healthy today.
I tell you this to give you hope and tell you to trust in the Lord. From my heart to God's ear and returned to you in blessing I pray.
Niki will be having heart surgery Thursday or Friday to replace her mitral valve.
Quote from: REBELYELL on August 21, 2018, 04:04:28 PM
Niki will be having heart surgery Thursday or Friday to replace her mitral valve.
Best wishes and a speedy recovery.
:jesus-cross:
Prayers sent..
Prayers your wife and family. I hope all goes well for y'all. :bible: :jesus-cross:
Best wishes to you and Niki. Hope for a successful surgery and quick recovery.
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