To those who have not heard, here's the synopsis of the past week or so.
Dad had a routine colonoscopy last Monday, 3/15. They found five polyps and clipped and cauterized two. On Saturday, 3/19, he had significant bleeding that took him to the ER at Anne Arundel in Annapolis. He needed two blood transfusions.
They did a CT scan to help find the problem, and they discovered a 9 cm aortic aneurysm by his kidney. What a mercy! There were no symptoms for such a deadly discovery.
The next few days they needed to stabilize him. They did another colonoscopy to repair the open polyp wound. They also did several more scans, an echo cardiogram, and a stress test. These went well.
The doctor in Annapolis realized that Dad needed a skilled team of doctors. She suggested sending him to Washington Hospital, where he had his triple by-pass five years ago. What a mercy! We had been praying for just that.
The team at Washington is top-notch. The doctor has performed thousands and thousands of these procedures. However, there were two options: one through the leg laparoscopically and one through the abdomen opening him up. The decision was weighty. When they spoke to the team this morning, they decided for them. What a mercy!
God willing, Dad will have surgery tomorrow around noon Maryland time. This is open abdominal surgery that will take 3-6 months for a full recovery. They expect him to be in the hospital for 7-10 days. Please pray with us for the following:
- peaceful hearts - skillful hands - exception to the covid regulations/visiting hours - no premature rupture of the aneurysm - minimal bleeding and that they close the wound - that the breathing tube can be removed after surgery (and no pneumonia) - that his heart would not be overstressed during the procedure - that his kidneys would not be affected - that there would be no infection As always, Dad prayed with the doctors he met with and knows the names of all the nurses. What a mercy!
Hello all, it is amazing what can happen in a couple days...as we know from the beginning of this journey. I found out Thurs evening that Pat fell coming to car to come home from fishing. He landed on his shoulder. He has had considerable pain from that but yesterday it was a slight bit better, not so today. He has an appt on Monday with shoulder specialist. Please pray that there is no serious injury in shoulder, for relief from pain, continued healing of abdominal wound and internal organs and no infection, for patience and remembering that our God is in control, loves us and is WITH US ALWAYS! Thank you,
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