Many of you that have known me for a long time know my father has had some heart issues over the past 6 years. For anyone who hasn't known this here is a quick recap of what has happened so far.
About 6 years ago (not exactly sure on dates) my dad wasn't feeling well and ended up going to the hospital. They ran tests and found out that there was bacteria growing on one of the valves in my father's heart. Since there was risk that the bacteria could break off and cause a major stroke, he needed open heart surgery the next day. Everything went well and we were out of the hospital and on to recovery. Then a year or so later they found that he had bacteria on another valve, so once again we were off to the hospital for a second open heart surgery.
My father has had a few issues or side effects from the two surgeries, including some memory problems and fatigue. The fatigue continues to get worse since one of the valves in his heart is leaking. This leak is a condition that normally only people who have multiple heart surgeries get, or as we like to call them, the lucky ones.
For the last few months, or even longer, my father has been going back and forth to the doctor, undergoing tests and taking medication to help control the leak in his heart. The medications may be helping a bit, but no where near enough as he still feels tired all the time, which makes him frustrated (and if you know my family, a frustrated Mancusi male is not one you want to be around) so it trickles down and everyone has a tough time with it.
Now my mother has never been very computer savvy, but she had been doing her research on the internet about my father's conditions (he is lucky, she is one of the best nurses in CT, so he is in good hands) and she found information on a hospital in Houston that is specializing in procedures to fix these types of leaks. They have 3 different procedures I believe, and I think it is something like 1000 successful surgeries since 2007. There are so many numbers and dates floating around that I am sure I am getting all of this wrong, but at least you get the general idea.
So armed with this new information my parents head back to their doctor's office. My father's doctor had never heard of these procedures and everyone was very optimistic. That was last week. A couple of days ago they heard back from Houston and my parents are currently sitting at the airport, because their 1pm flight ended up canceled and now they are shooting for an 8pm flight, which is delayed to 9pm.
Eventually they will get to Houston and my father will have one of these procedures, which is very non-evasive compared to open heart surgery, and only has a couple of day recovery period. So he will be flying home by the end of the weekend.
Anyway that's where we are now and hopefully the plane will be in the air soon. Please keep my father in your thoughts and prayers this weekend (and always for that matter).
Thank you Houston!
Comments (1)
Hello:
I just read your post about your Dad's trip to Houston for his procedure. Our thoughts, best wishes and prayers are with your DAD and Mom (and the entire Mancusi family). Keep us abreast of the progress of your DAD and send him our warmest regards.
Michael Brier
Posted by Michael Brier | July 24, 2008 1:41 PM
Posted on July 24, 2008 13:41