Your prayers will be appreciated.

[953 nut 69,461]

Don’t know what you will be doing Friday but I will be having a couple closed-chest heart surgeries. Your prayers will be appreciated.

During my hospitalization in January a Cardiologist did a Coronary Abrasion to correct Arterial Fibrillation which resulted from the removal of blood clots from my lungs. Follow up imaging and appointments revealed Hart Flutter and the likelihood that a Watchman device would be called for as well.

The Watchman device is sort of a miniature umbrella that will be placed in the heart to close off the appendage of the heart that develops clots. Needless to say, I will be under general anastasis for all of this. The route of entry will be a long catheter that will be inserted in a large vane in the leg. I will be laying on an x-ray table with a receiver hanging directly over me. A Radiologist will monitor the procedures on a huge screen so the Cardiologist can see exactly where the device is being placed. Once the location has been confirmed my heart will be stopped while the Watchman is deployed and seated, then he will start my heart and confirm there are no leaks. The insertion device will be removed and the x-ray turned off and they will prepare for the next procedure, two Ablations.

The difference between heart flutter and murmur is the murmur is caused by valve leakage and Flutter is caused by the electrical impulses from the brain not always getting where they should be.

The analogy the Cardiologist used was right up my alley, he said it is like a pair of spark plug wires that are arcing to one another, the cylinder that should get the spark receives less than it should and the other cylinder gets a spark at the wrong time which fights against peak performance.

Utilizing the same catheter the doctor will insert the mechanism used for this procedure, the x-ray unit will be reactivated, at this point he will stop my heart, do two Ablations inside the heart to block these nerves from each other, and then restart my heart. After a period of monitoring my heart if nothing else needs to be done the catheter will be removed and a vascular surgeon will close the vein.

The Cardiologist doing both of these procedures specializes in Watchman installations, he did over 600 last year. I am extremely confident that everything will go well, but a prayer or two sure couldn’t hurt.

Thank you in advance for your prayers.

953 nut   AKA  Dick Schmidt

 

https://www.bch.org/media/video-center/bch-news-segments/watchman-implant-animation/

[pfrederi 21,171]

Sir ... you have my prayers, best wishes and all the 4 leaf clovers I can find....  Stay strong!!!

[Mike'sHorseBarn 3,682]

Prayers for you dick! What time is your surgery scheduled for tomorrow?

[Ed Kennell 47,397]

Praying for you all day tomorrow, Richard.   

[rjg854 13,372]

The same goes for me too, Richard, prayers without ceasing for wisdom for the doctor and all those involved with this surgery and for your wife as she waits during the procedure and your recovery.

[953 nut 69,461]

2 hours ago, Mike'sHorseBarn said:

What time is your surgery scheduled for

We have to be at the hospital at7:00am, not sure what time the actual surgery starts but my guess would be 9:00 by the time the paperwork is done and I am preped.

[SylvanLakeWH 32,592]

Prayers for you and your family...

 

All the best!