Mike Hammer
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Mike has a congenital heart defect that was corrected surgically when he was 10 years old. On Monday, July 30, 2007, he had open-heart sugery to update his Fontan circuit, converting it to the newer extra-cardiac Fontan. The surgery went according to plan, but Mike has battled complications ever since.
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  TUESDAY, JANUARY 06, 2009 08:45 PM, CST
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For those of you who are waiting with bated breath to hear my job situation: my job was eliminated today, but my last day of work is July 30. I will then have several months of severance, so I have some time to decide what I want to be when I grow up. Hopefully, Mike will continue to improve and maybe even be driving (!) again by September. Many of my co-workers will be jobless as of Feb. 5, which would have put us in a more dire situation. We likely would have had to postpone (again) our trip to Florida in April. The original trip was scheduled for October 2007, which, obviously, didn't work out. Emma is excited to spend a day at Disney, and the rest of us are looking forward to some R&R with Mike's Grandpa Levy. I think Mike will even be able to pedal around on the three-wheel bike by April.

Mike is scheduled for surgery next Thursday at Loyola to have a fistula for dialysis created (?) in his right forearm. No one really knows how his body will respond. The cardiologist in Chicago did a little impromptu research, and found two cases of Fontans with fistulas (one in Philadelphia, one in Chicago). One did well, one did not. The fear is that the fistula (the artery connected directly to a vein) will put too much pressure on his passive venous return to his lungs. There is also the risk of anesthesia. We are pretty reluctant to go forward with it, although, if it works, it is a better long-term access for dialysis. We are praying for a good result and a fast recovery.

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HOSPITAL INFORMATION
Advocate Hope Children's Hospital
4440 W. 95th St
Oak Lawn, IL 60453
United States
7086843406