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My "big heart" has FINALLY won me a DATE...



...with a knife!

11/07/2011 = catheterization
11/08/2011 = my 4th Open Heart Surgery; Recovery time, ~2-3 months.

More information in a bit, but first...


DETAILING:
Anyone able to or know someone who will clean my 6 cars for me yet this October?
Since my "car season" will be over sooner than usual, I will not have time to detail them, let alone get to 1,000 miles on each of them for what would've been the 3rd year in a row.


PRE-OP FUN:
Who is IN for a "PRE-SURGERY PARTY"? Stop in for 5 minutes or all 5 hours...
~5:30p-10:30p
Saturday, 10/29/2011
@ Beef Villa
1225 W SPRING ST
S Elgin IL
http://www.beefvilla.com/
FB event:
https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=103976313046427


NEPHEW TIME:
Hard to believe he will be THREE just a few days after my upcoming OHS:
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?f...678114.2146020.1300282613&type=1&l=f202ae6938



...& now, BACK TO OHS NEWS....

I've been quiet because it took me time to process the news from my 09/29/2011 appointment with the surgeon, make some decisions & prep info to share. I'm NOT scared, but I dread enduring another OHS so soon after my 3rd one ... and I'm VERY frustrated/angry at the irony of how this will affect my finances/plans/cars/vacation/road trips. I'm starting to "hate" my "big heart", literally and figuratively. Remaining upbeat is tough with so much happening and on my mind (other than the surgery). I HATE medical bills and wasting time. Life is too short!

My surgeon appointment was originally scheduled for 09/15/2011, but that never happened. If a friend of mine at the hospital hadn't sent me a message that morning asking what time I'd be there, I wouldn't have known. She noticed I wasn't on the schedule. So, I called and was told the surgeon was out of town at a conference. They CLAIMED to have called me, but the number they told me they called wasn't mine. UGH. So, LONG story short, the appointment was moved to 09/29/2011.

The trouble my "big heart" has me in now:
My ascending aorta is 5.6 at the middle; 5.3 at the root.
The aorta (to the arch) & the aortic valve will be replaced with a tissue (cow) valve; I will have a small farm inside of me! The Tuesday, 11/08/2011, surgery will be performed by Dr Russell at Chicago's Northwestern Memorial Hospital.

This is different than my prior 3 OHSs, done at Chicago's Children's Memorial Hospital...
...November 1977 ... 1st pig's valve installed to replace the pulmonary artery I was born without
...March 1987 ... 2nd pig's valve installed (outgrew 1st one)
...January 6, 2003 ... 3rd pig's valve installed (2nd one too calcified) & 1st pacemaker installed

My CHD Quilt Block:
http://www.chevyasylum.com/cort/quilt.html



I appreciate ALL of the continuing support.

Good thing about the surgery is that I'll have plenty of time to read, WRITE more of my Route 66 story, plan road trips, listen to music, etc.
Though, I wish I was on a ROAD TRIP or back on the RADIO ... or both.

My Route 66 story:
http://whenthegoingisgood.com/category/route66/

My road trip (& other) pics:
http://www.chevyasylum.com/cort/roadtrips/roadtrips.html
http://picasaweb.google.com/knightfan26917

My radio show playlists:
http://www.chevyasylum.com/cort/radioshows.html

All of the above linked from:
http://www.chevyasylum.com/cort/



With so much happening, it's going to be a rough and fast few weeks. I have LOTS to do [pre-op appointments, move stuff out of my room, drive my cars, work, etc.], so I'll be online sporadically....


IRONY ROCKS!



Cort | 38.m.IL | pigValve + paceMaker | 5 Monte Carlos + 1 Caprice Classic
CHD.MCs.CC + RoadTrips.models.RadioShows.legos.HO.us66 = http://www.chevyasylum.com/cort
"Wonderin' what's real and wonderin' why" __ Andy & Terry Murray __ 'Treasures For The Road'
 
I've got you on the surgical calendar, Cort. I wish we could skip the surgery and just enjoy the pre-surgery part, but I guess that's not the way it works.:thumbd:

Keep a possible road trip to southern IL in mind for next spring. I know you would enjoy the drive.:thumbup:
 
Cort - I'm kinda stunned. So much going on. . .

Think of it this way -- after it all settles down, you'll be one step closer to being the bionic man!

I'm going to try to keep a spot open on my calendar for the 29th.

You know our thoughts and prayers are with you, now more than ever.
 
Cort, First of course you re in my thoughts and prayers and i look forward to reading your recovery updates.
It looks like you have a good plan and are pretty organized about everything you want to do before your surgery. In a way it is good to have so much to do, it will help keep your mind off the surgery. but remeber dont drive your self nuts trying to make sure everything is done, take time to relax too (the party sounds like a great idea). Anything that doesn't get done, just wasn't meant to get done.

Will you be setting up a caringbridge type page that someone can update everyone on until you can get online yourself? It might be easier having 1 page like that that everyone has a link to instead of trying to update ALL of your different groups and pages.

You know what to do after surgery t get you home ASAP, walk as soon an as often as you can, do your breathing etc and think about all the things you look forward to doing when you are feeling better.
 
Cort,
Well, so many things, so little time before surgery. Anyway, Mr. M/C man, try to take some time to chill and I shall be thinking about you come the 8th of Nov. As a matter of fact, my birthday is the 9th of Nov, when I turn 60 (yahoooooo), so I will make my birthday wish early and ask for nothing but good vibes, fruitful surgery and smooth recovery for you. I hope you know how many people on this forum love you and will be praying for you. :) :)
 
Cort, sorry to hear you are facing surgery again. As a fellow congenital heart patient, I can appreciate what all you've been through in your life. It sounds like you've got a great plan in place. Of course you know that we will all be waiting here for word on how you are doing. Please keep us posted when you can and know that you are in all of our thoughts.

Kim
 
Hey, Cort.
Well, I'm very sorry to hear the news about #4, but I really like the news about #66!! So you're going to write your own Blue Highways book!!! I can't wait to read it! Route 66! I think that is fantastic! I still have the US road map of my father's where he penned over every route he'd driven on. You are kindred spirits for sure! He's gone now, you know this, but I remember when he went in to have his pre triple by-pass angiogram, my cousin performed it. My dad drove in to the doctor's thinking he might be having a heart attack and he was! so they threw him into an ambulance and right over to the hospital where my cousin was. Anyway, I high-tailed it over there to find out what was up. I remember my cousin taking me back into the labs (completely against the rules) and showing me the film of his angiogram. By rights, he believed, he should have long been dead. But I remember him saying that my father (whom he knew and loved very much) had an amazing heart -- that it had been working so hard to keep working! It had branched out all kinds of unusual new veins (or??) to keep the blood moving through his body. He kept pointing to things on the screen and shaking his head. He thought it was proof of my father's love of life.

Where there's a will -- there's a way!

I know you will get through this next hurdle. I have complete confidence in you. You are familiar with the road. Yep. You've got this one down.

Sending you my very best wishes.

Marguerite
 
Marguerite - Your story about your dad's angiogram is an encouraging way to discuss and describe what we know as collateral vascularization. Your description somehow makes it all seem so much more personal and realistic. A great way to describe this. You must have a very special family.
 
I was kind of shocked when I saw this post from you because I had no idea you were having to go through another OHS...your 4th, wow!

Please know my prayers are with you for a most successful surgery!

Hang tight my friend! :)
 
epstns said:
Marguerite - Your story about your dad's angiogram is an encouraging way to discuss and describe what we know as collateral vascularization. Your description somehow makes it all seem so much more personal and realistic. A great way to describe this. You must have a very special family.
Click to expand...

Thanks, Steve. I don't even seem to try anymore to not sound "blonde" about things! :rolleyes2: It's great to have the correct medical term. Thank you! And I appreciate your kind words, too!

Cort and I had had several online discussions, gosh, years ago, about how much my father loved to drive, just the driving; let alone all the back roads he sought out. Cort suggested he might enjoy the book, Blue Highways, and I had bought it for him and he did very much enjoy it.

Cort, you seem to have a wonderful attitude and I hope that your strong will to bounce back will serve you well.

Marguerite
 
*nods*

Thank you, all ... your well wishes, thoughts and prayers are MUCH appreciated.


Duffey said:
I wish we could skip the surgery and just enjoy the pre-surgery part, but I guess that's not the way it works.
Click to expand...

No, no it isn't, but I like the way you think ;).


Duffey said:
Keep a possible road trip to southern IL in mind for next spring. I know you would enjoy the drive.
Click to expand...

Indeed. I may be down your way a bit sooner than that, though, as a couple of my Route 66 friends have invited me down to the STL area for an "extended" weekend after I start driving while I'm still recovering. Might not be a bad idea. We'll see....


Freddie said:
Wow Cort you do have many things happening.....are you moving too?
Click to expand...

No ... just having to move things out of the room to get ready for the new carpeting and a few other flood-related repairs. :(


Lynlw said:
Will you be setting up a caringbridge type page that someone can update everyone on until you can get online yourself? It might be easier having 1 page like that that everyone has a link to instead of trying to update ALL of your different groups and pages.
Click to expand...

True, but no. Instead, my sister will post updates on FB...more below. :)


Bina said:
I'm sorry that I will miss your party, will it be
a Halloween party? ((hugs))
Click to expand...

I suppose it could've been, but nope ... just a party.


Marguerite53 said:
...I really like the news about #66!! So you're going to write your own Blue Highways book!!! I can't wait to read it! Route 66! I think that is fantastic!

Marguerite
Click to expand...

Hey Marguerite ... yes, indeed ... I posted a link to it in my original post:
http://whenthegoingisgood.com/category/route66/

That's what I've written so far. The sections are numbered, so follow the numbering; it is a bit confusing because of the way the "blog" format works....



Marguerite53 said:
Cort and I had had several online discussions, gosh, years ago, about how much my father loved to drive, just the driving; let alone all the back roads he sought out. Cort suggested he might enjoy the book, Blue Highways, and I had bought it for him and he did very much enjoy it.

Cort, you seem to have a wonderful attitude and I hope that your strong will to bounce back will serve you well.
Click to expand...

I remember those discussions!!!! Glad he enjoyed it. And, as for the attitude ... it isn't always that wonderful...lol :(


*

PRE-SURGERY PARTY! WHO IS IN?

~5:30p-10:30p ... Saturday ... 10/29/2011
@ Beef Villa
1225 W SPRING ST
S Elgin IL
http://www.beefvilla.com/

FB:
https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=103976313046427

Plenty of hotels around from which to choose, if needed.

For "EARLY BIRDS" or "LATE OWLS", we could plan afternoon stuff as well as go elsewhere at 10:30p....

If you are planning to come, please contact me via FB...
...or PH:
847-
337-
9897-

...or EM:
faithcubsmc2691
@
aol.com




NEPHEW TIME, 10/16/2011

I caught an AWESOME pic of him, imho, anyway...
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=2560984866162&l=e3c5b76982



ROUTE 66 STORY

I've added a section, #20 (The Picture), 10/16/2011:
http://whenthegoingisgood.com/2011/10/17/_thats-the-highway_-11/




SURGERY & POST-SURGERY:

As in 2003, my sister will send Email updates, and this time, she will post updates to my Facebook Wall...
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1300282613

Those who receive the Emails or see the updates on FB are WELCOME to share those updates on the various groups/message boards.


3rd OHS:
Some of the Emails my sister sent during/after my January 6, 2003, surgery....

>>"cort's surg.", 01/06/2003, 8:14pm<<
hello all:

it is about quarter til eight, jan 6. 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 feel free to email if you have any specific questions. i will try
to check my email tonight and tomorrow morning and respond to what i can
before we head back the hospital in the morning. 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.


>>"cort update", 01/07/2003, 04:20p<<
hello again:

thank you all for the many emails of encouragement. this morning when i
checked email mom and dad were with me, and we were all able to look at the
emails together. i am sorry if i don't email all of you back personally...

we all slept very well last night, and that rest was much needed.

cort had a good night as well. he was taken off the paralytic medicine
this morning. when the doctors were in this morning they were happy with
how he was doing. he is still on the ventilator, and taking breaths on his
own every once in awhile. he is still not awake. mom and dad are staying
at the hospital until later this evening, and will call if he wakes up
tonight. if he does, his friend, heather, and i might head back to the
hospital tonight.

i will return to work tomorrow (wed.) and won't be able to see cort again
until tomorrow evening. i will send another update later tonight, if he
wakes up, or i will until after we have seen him tomorrow evening.

again, thank you all for the love, support, and prayers. i will pass
everything on to cort when he is aware enough!

God Bless,
joylyn


>>"another update", 01/08/2003, 12:52a<<
hello again:

mom and dad were at the hospital longer than anticipated because cort was
awake and wanting to communicate some tonight. he was motioning and
writing a little bit, asking how everything went, and questions like that.
he still is not yet breathing on his own, and he motioned for his tubes to
be cleaned. he probably won't remember what all went on this evening, but
we are hoping by tomorrow he will be even more alert.

i am looking forward to seeing him tomorrow evening, and i will send
another update after i get to see him again.

again, thank you for the amount of support all of you have shown. i have
printed off so many emails for cort to read in the hospital my eyes are
crossed! ;-).

God Bless,
joylyn
Click to expand...



Cort | 38.m.IL | pigValve + paceMaker | 5 Monte Carlos + 1 Caprice Classic
* PRE-SURGERY PARTY = ~5:30p-10:30p, Saturday, 10/29/2011 at Beef Villa, 1225 W Spring St, S Elgin IL *
"Watch over them for me" __ Darryl Worley __ 'If Something Should Happen'
 
Hey, Cort - If you are contemplating driving to STL, and if the weather is nice enough to be outside walking around, take your camera to Tower Grove Park. This delightful turn-of-the-century gem has become one of our favorites for summer and fall walks. This is a "pocket park" that is in the city proper, and is perhaps 1 mile by 1/8 mile, with walking paths through it. It has numerous gazebos, ponds, small flower gardens, a bandstand and a conservatory. It always reminds me of what life must have been like a hundred or so years ago. My wife and I have been there twice - once a couple of months before my surgery, when we discussed all the "what-if's" of my upcoming surgery, and again about 6 months after surgery, when we could more comfortably discuss what the future holds. The park is sort of a "magic place" for me. I think you could get some neat pictures there.
 
Wow, Cort, I was shocked when I saw this thread. Best wishes with your surgery. Keep up that optimistic spirit!
 
The park Steve mentions is near where we had our reunion dinner, Cort. Do you remember that night? I think you went back to the hotel with a carload of VR ladies!

St. Louis is almost always good for us. Just let me know.
 
Cort,
I'm sorry to hear about your upcoming surgery. I will be keeping you in my prayers for an uneventful surgery and smooth recovery.

Chris
 
Cort,

Truthfully, I dislike the cardiac catheterization more than the surgery. After the cath, I start thinking, "well, the worst part is over."

It's a strange journey, but it helps to know that others "get it." Sometimes, the toughest thing is just keeping yourself from running out of the building. But you surprise yourself. You make it through, and eventually you forget about it and go back to living. You really know you're all better when you slip unknowingly out of your mystical phase of celebrating every moment of life, and have your first petty thought.

You know my thoughts will be with you the whole time you're there.

Be well,
 
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