Through a little bit of luck and a series of appointments with doctors across a number of specialties, I've come to find out that I have an aortic aneurysm that requires immediate attention. So, an appointment at Mayo on Thursday, April 5th is going to lead to open heart surgery on Tuesday, April 10th to replace a section of my aorta with a synthetic material. The surgery is fairly common, but is still major surgery and will lead to a week in the hospital recovering and a 6 week recovery at home. The prognosis is very good and I have the best care in the world at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester to get me through it.
I setup this site to share information about my journey through this with friends, family, coworkers, and others. I am incredibly fortunate to have found this before a rupture which would certainly be fatal, but also am blessed with otherwise good health, the resources to get the best care possible, and the support from family, friends, and my work-family at Mortenson.
I also hope that you'll join me in recognizing that while medical technology is certainly incredible, there was still a key luck-factor to finding this issue before tragedy struck. More can be done, and if you are looking for a way to help, I would ask for you to give your support to the American Heart Association. I was planning to do the Heart Walk on Saturday, May 5, but likely won't be able to go, quite yet.
Whether you sign up to walk yourself, or are able to make a financial contribution, please visit
http://www2.heart.org/goto/jasontschetter to find out more.
