Mom Update 1-9-10 (Surgery is Scheduled)

Celebration: Mom has lost over 20 pounds since she got to Baylor Tuesday evening. Although, it is quite tough on Mom getting up and down so much to go to the restroom, this is such a blessing!

Mom is officially scheduled for open heart surgery to replace her tricuspid valve on Tuesday around 12:00 or 1:00 PM at Baylor Dallas. The tricuspid valve prevents the back flow of blood as it is pumped from the right atrium to the right ventricle. Basically, the chemical that the carcinoid tumors produce have somewhat “destroyed” this valve which is causing the tricuspid regurgitation (valve isn’t closing and allowing the blood to come back out) and is currently described as non-functioning. Mom will receive a bioprosthetic heart valve. This means she will have an animal tissue valve; either a porcine, which is valve tissue from a pig, or a bovine pericardial tissue, which is from a cow. I know, sounds crazy huh? We keep making jokes to Mom about it, but she doesn’t think it is as funny as we do. You can go here to read more about the surgery itself or go here to read more about the bioprosthetic valve.

Actual surgery time should be about 3 hours. Mom is expected to be in ICU a minimum of 24 hours post-surgery. During surgery, Mom will be placed on a heart-lung machine that will keep oxygen-rich blood flowing through her body while her heart is stopped during the valve replacement. The doctor said there is a 1% chance that something could go wrong (stroke, blood clot, etc.). To be honest, we were quite worried about the outcome (of course we still are), but this percentage sounds quite positive to us! The surgeon did say that her arteries were “clean as a whistle”. YEA Mom! Mom has always been pretty conscious of what she ate. Growing up, she very rarely fried anything! The surgeon also said there is a chance she would at some time need a pacemaker. So, he is going to go ahead and put the “wires” in just in case.

As far as her kidneys are concerned, the surgeon said that they could either get better or worse. Really, at this point, they are not quite sure what will happen after the valve is replaced. We are hoping this surgery will also increase the functionality of her kidneys and remedy this fluid problem she is currently having.

As with any surgery there are risks. Her surgeon is said to be one of the very best and we are very optimistic that Mom will do great! Please pray for Dr. Hebeler and his team that day.

And of course, please pray for Mom. For those of you that don't know her personally, her name is Sharon Spencer if you would like to call her something other than "Megan's Mom" and be specific when you are speaking to the Lord. :-) She is such a strong woman and I know she is going to do great!

I will keep you posted with details as I have them.