Tutto Passa. 

Everything Passes. 

There is a photograph of a bronzed Italian man living his best 'Bain de Soleil' life with a tattoo across his chest that states: Tutto Passa. How simple and true, everything passes. I'll put that on a tattoo inspiration board for Britt- he said he might consider getting a tattoo  to cover up the battle scars. He has a new battle wound or 2 after last week.

Last week was a mess. I'm having a hard time summarizing last weeks messiness with medical terminology, so here's the simple version....Britt was struggling for every single breath. He was having afib episodes, rough nights, exhausting days, and concerning blood test results. Last Thursday morning, he went for a number of tests, imaging, and a CT scan to rule out a pulmonary embolism. The CT scan revealed a concerning amount of fluid around his heart and lungs. The decision was swiftly made to send him over to the ICU at Houston Methodist West. Friday morning, he was taken into surgery where he had a pericardial window procedure. A small window is removed from the sac around the heart and a drain was placed to removed the excess fluid. He had an additional drain placed to remove the fluid around his lungs. It was a success! Britt had an incredible surgeon who said, "It's no wonder he has been having a hard time weaning off of the ventilator."  He is very much a champion of Britt and believes he is going to get through this. 

Britt is recovering in the ICU, his drain tubes have been removed, and he has been getting some much needed rest. We are waiting for a bed to open up at the LTACH but mostly waiting for insurance approvals. I am trying to appear as cool as a cucumber but in actuality, I am obsessively checking to see if BCBS approved him yet....still waiting. 

I'm looking forward to Britt regaining his ability to speak...again. It's been too long since I've heard his voice. As adept as I've become at lip reading, it doesn't take the place of a normal conversation. Thankfully, his facial expressions are a language of their own. 

Hopefully this surgery provides a tremendous amount of relief for Britt and he can resume weaning off the ventilator. I know one day in the years to come,  we will reflect back to today and be able to say to ourselves,  TUTTO PASSA. ⚓️🙏🏼❤️

Love, 

H