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The following is part of what greeted friends/family in an Email sent about 8:15p (central) on January 6, 2003:


hello all:

i just arrived home from the hospital (children's memorial).

cort's surgery took approximately seven and a half hours by our estimation. he was told to arrive at children's memorial around six for surgery by seven thirty, but once we arrived we were told that nothing would begin until seven, and that surgery wouldn't begin until eight thirty. i believe they took him into the operating room around just before nine o'clock. we were updated about every two hours on his status, which was good with every update.

sometime between four and four thirty i think it was, the doctor came out to tell us that they were finished, and that it would take about another forty-five minutes to an hour to close up the opening. they replaced the artery. they also replaced the valve using a pig's valve instead of the human valve. there was another valve between the two heart chambers on the right side of the heart that was "leaking" that was also repaired. they did not have to perform the arrythmia procedure b/c cort's heart regulated itself. that would have added time to the procedure. the pacemaker was placed in his abdomin, and according to the doctor it is one of the best pacemaker's available. it can be programmed from outside his body, eliminating the need for further minor surgery to change the program if need be.

when we left (that is--cort's best friend, heather, my boyfriend, eric, and i) we had seen cort in the icu. since this is really the first surgery i have been fully aware of, seeing him in the icu may have seemed more extreme to me than it really was...he looked pale, but he was breathing well on the ventilator. he was under sedatives to keep him from moving, and pain killers. there were a lot of tubes running everywhere and you could see his heart beating in a sense...but the doctors and the nurses said he was doing well. mom and dad will be staying at the hospital until later this evening, but will be coming home to sleep in their own bed tonight if his condition remains in good status.

eric, heather, and i will be staying the night at home as well, and headed back to the hospital in the morning. the nurse told me that they would decide in the morning when to wake him up. the three of us should arrive home around four in the afternoon (tuesday) and that will be when i will send the next update unless his condition changes at all.

to sum it up, he is doing well, recovering in the icu. he is still on the ventilator and has a lot medication going through him to keep him from moving, and to help for pain he might have. they will most likely wake him up tomorrow, and go from there on taking him off the ventilator.

...
please excuse any gramatical and spelling errors as it has been a long day with not much rest from the night before...

God Bless,
Joylyn aka Cort's lil sis.
Click to expand...


Hard to believe it has been 4 years since that Email was sent. A lot has changed (including Joy's boyfriend becoming her husband) ... some things have stayed the same.

In a couple months (March), it'll be 20 years since my second open heart surgery, which was 9 months before my then-best-friend died 2 days after Christmas of an asthma attack. And, later this year, it'll be 30 years since my first open heart surgery.


Thanks to (and despite) these anniversaries, life continues to be good :)! For 2007, I'll be planning a road trip or two and perhaps doing another radio show, among many other things ;). And, sometime this year, the pacemaker that was implanted 4 years ago will be replaced.



Cort:33swm."Mr Monte Carlo.Mr Road Trip".pig valve.pacemaker
PICS:lego.HO.model.MCinfo.RT.CHD = http://www.chevyasylum.com/cort
"It almost seems like yesterday" ... Kenny Rogers ... '20 Years Ago'
 
Cort,

Congrats on making it through and still going strong. I wish all the best for you and healthy and happy years ahead.

Now, if we can just find that special woman for you, all would be perfect.;) :D ;)
 
Cool You know I love to follow and see how great you do (and am soo looking forward to Justin saying it was 30 since his first ohs he's almost at 19, which I still can't believe ) but gosh, you almost put me in shock,lol I was so busy reading while trying to figure out what the math equation was I was reading fast and missed the year in your first sentece and had to do a quick double look efore realized it couldn't be this year that your were in the hospital, since today is ..well was the 6th. you have to rember when you post some of us people passed 40 need reading glasses WITh our bifocal contacts lol
anyway i am very happy for you and your family and am looking forward to rereading this in another 30 years, Lyn
 
geebee said:
Cort,
Now, if we can just find that special woman for you, all would be perfect.;) :D ;)
Click to expand...


Hey GeeBeee, I was still trying to decide what my NY resolution shuld be, maybe this can be my years mission :)
 
Congratulations, Cort- wishing you many more happy and healthy years and mucho road trips through life!
 
May God continue to bless your life as you travel the roads of this country and widen, your already large, circle of friends.

Congratulations Cort!
 
Cort,

Congratulations on your anniversaries! Having met you many times, I know you are so full of life. May you have many healthy and happy years ahead and to continue to go on your road trips to visit your many friends.

BTW: We need to plan another local gathering. Don't you still need to try and beat Gina at pool! :D It's been a while. Anyone interested?
 
Congratulations! You are doing so well! With our best wishes that you continue on this path. The pacemaker replacement should be a very easy surgery, you should just have the "battery pack/computer" changed, not the wires into the heart.
 
Cort,
I'm very happy that you're celebrating another anniversary, and here's wishing you 70 more! (that's do-able, isn't it?):)
 
Thank you all :). Appreciate your posts and words ... perhaps more than you know....


Lynlw said:
Hey GeeBeee, I was still trying to decide what my NY resolution shuld be, maybe this can be my years mission
Click to expand...

He he ... want a mission you have in front of you then, Lyn ;). he he he

And, I admit ... after I posted that, I thought that, perhaps, I should've made the year of that quote a bit more clearer ... sorry 'bout the confusion :(.



Lorraine said:
BTW: We need to plan another local gathering. Don't you still need to try and beat Gina at pool! It's been a while. Anyone interested?
Click to expand...

I am! And, yes, I still need to beat Gina at pool ;). He he he.

Course, scheduling it is always the interesting part, right? ;)



StretchL said:
I am a bit confused about your story, though... how about a little deep background?
Click to expand...

Not sure why you are confused ... sorry 'bout that :(. Anyway, in 1973, they put a band over the area where my missing pulmonary artery should've been. In 1977, they did my first open heart surgery ... installing a pig's valve. In 1987, that was replaced with another pig's valve ... because I outgrew the original one. Then, in 2003, the 2nd pig's valve was replaced because it had calcified too much. They also installed the pacemaker in 2003.



And, Mary ... that better darn well be do-able! He he ... I plan to live a while yet ;).


Again ... thank you all :).



Cort:33swm."Mr Monte Carlo.Mr Road Trip".pig valve.pacemaker
PICS:lego.HO.model.MCinfo.RT.CHD = http://www.chevyasylum.com/cort
"Tell me what you see" ... Bob Carlisle ... 'Getting Stronger'
 
StretchL said:
Thanks... that clears it up... I just wasn't sure about the timeline...
Click to expand...

Ah, I see ... sorry I didn't make it clearer in the original post. Glad, tho, that the explanation cleared it up for ya :).



And, francie ... thank you :).




Cort:33swm."Mr Monte Carlo.Mr Road Trip".pig valve.pacemaker
PICS:lego.HO.model.MCinfo.RT.CHD = http://www.chevyasylum.com/cort
"All of the chaos makes perfect sense" ... Joe Diffie ... 'Third Rock From The Sun'
 
Hey Cort,
Hey Congrats on all our anniversaries! May they grow and grow in number! It is fun to look back to see how far you have come since all these major events. It makes you so happy to be alive doesnt it? Thanks for all the support you give the rest of us!! Karen
 
Karen,

They say everything happens for a reason ... and your post had perfect timing. It's been a rather bad day, so your comments come at just the right time ... because it reminded me how nice and happy it IS to be alive, despite some of the troubles/despair/naysayers in the world. So, thank you very much. I certainly appreciate it.



And, Nancy ... just noticed your post as well ... thank you. Yes, it is nice to look back. I've been thinking a lot about you recently. I do hope you are doing well ... and I'm so glad you are still with us at VR ... this place wouldn't be the same without you.




Cort:33swm."Mr Monte Carlo.Mr Road Trip".pig valve.pacemaker
PICS:lego.HO.model.MCinfo.RT.CHD = http://www.chevyasylum.com/cort
"It's just a matter of time" ... TG Sheppard ... 'Somewhere Down The Line'
 
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