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Kim’s Story

Site created on January 14, 2019

Mom's story began a while ago; however, her broader range of issues began to get worse after the passing of her mom. She began having serious shortness of breath that she described as completely different than what she had ever experienced with asthma. She began preparing to have a TAVR procedure which is a procedure to replace her aortic valve. This could only be done at the Heart Hospital in Plano. The logistics were in the works to get her to Plano; however, on December 20th she told dad that she needed to go to the hospital immediately because she couldn't get her breathing under control and it was BAD (which is probably an understatement). She was having a severe asthma attack and went into cardiac arrest as soon as she got to the ER. She was essentially "dead" for 6 minutes. Since then there have been a broad range of medical tests done accompanied by three intubations and extubations. She went into liver and kidney failure which required multiple rounds of dialysis. It was finally decided that the hospital in Waco had exhausted all of their options and that she needed to be transferred to the Heart Hospital in Plano. Mom was transported via helicopter on Thursday January 10th. It was decided that she needed a temporary balloon placed in her aortic valve to hopefully allow for better breathing to get better thus allowing for the healing of the other organs. That procedure was done yesterday, January 15th, and was successful. We are now waiting to see if she can breathe on her own, begin rehab, then hopefully prepare to replace her aortic valve through open heart surgery. (That all may sound nice and easy, but will require A LOT of work). This is going to be an extremely long process, but she has excelled at EVERY hurdle placed in front of her. The power of prayer has to be mentioned here, as Christ has gotten us through so much. I am sure there is so much that I am missing, but this should give you a pretty good idea as to where we're at. This website was created to allow constant access to the most up-to-date information on what is going on with mom. I (Erika) will update it as much as I can. You can also text message me at (903) 468-2649. All questions, comments, prayers, and such are all welcome on this page. We greatly appreciate all of the prayers and support that have been give to us thus far. God Bless you all!

Newest Update

Journal entry by Mark McLean — Apr 5, 2021

Over 5 hours later, the doc came out and gave me some good news. He's optimistic that he was able to repair the palpitations she's been having...ones that have been so bad, they've sidelined her at times for days. She was having an extra beat every other beat, which is tiring. This procedure took two docs. Better news - he thinks this was causing her CHF and, if true, could be a game changer for Kim. That is welcome news given the last 6-7 months.

Two years ago, she survived something most docs felt she shouldn't have. You can imagine how tough recovery has been, but she's a fighter. How lucky are we to witness God's grace and miracles first hand!

Thank you for following and caring for Kim!

Mark

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