"Previously, on 'Heart of Sharon'..."

I reproduce here the first two emails that went out with update info:

First, Tuesday, June 21:

Monday Sharon was taken to hospital emergency room and was found to be in full congestive heart failure.

The ER docs got her stabilized; got her heart rate down. She was found to have atrial fibrillation which had led to the congestive heart failure condition.

After she was stabilised, she was transferred to the Cleveland Clinic cardiac intensive care unit. (For those of you who don’t know about it, it’s the world’s number one rated heart facility. The King of Saudi Arabia used to fly to Cleveland to come here. If it was good enough for him, it may just be good enough for my girl.)

Ultrasound exam of her heart revealed that her atrial valve was not closing properly, and that had lead to the atrial fibrillation.

On Tuesday they examined her heart with a fiber-optic device to check for any blood clots that may have formed while the heart was not pumping correctly. After verifying that there weren’t any, they “shocked” her heart with a defibrillator—she went into a really beautiful sinus rhythm.

Today she was released from the cardiac intensive care unit and moved to a regular room (actually, a bloody corner suite on the 9th floor- I think she’s got someone buffaloed :D .

The plan is for her heart to be catheterized tomorrow (Thursday). They’ll be looking for coronary artery blockages.

At this point we expect her to have open-heart surgery on either Friday the 23 or Monday 26th. During that surgery they will repair the valve (there are two techniques, but I’m just way too tired to remember all that right now); and if they find any blockages during the catheterization they will also perform bypass surgery—sort of “as long as the hood’s open, might as well take care of everything.”

She’s in good spirits; she’s cracking jokes with the nurses and otherwise being a very brave girl. I’m so proud of her I can hardly stand it.

She sends her love to all; and we ask for your prayers and well wishes.

Then Thursday, June 22:

Sharon was catheterized this afternoon about 2:30. They found very little blockage, well below the level that would require any kind of surgical treatment. Thus, there’s no need for any bypasses to be done while she’s under.

She’s slotted in as procedure number 2 in the particular operating room she’s assigned to at this point, but they don’t have a hard-and-fast scheduling for these things. It depends on how long Number 1 in that room goes; or if there’s a cancellation in any one of the other nine operating rooms she might get slotted earlier.

I’ve been told to expect her to go up anytime between about 10am and 2 pm.

The entire period from when she leaves her room ‘til she’s in intensive care should be from five to seven hours. We can expect her to remain in intensive care from 24 to 48 hours (most patients are back in regular rooms in 24); and to remain in the hospital for another three days.

She’s still in good spirits; definitely concerned but she has all the right drugs to keep her anxiety at bay. The poor girl has generalized anxiety; and OPEN HEART SURGERY (oh my god!!!) has always been the One Biggest Baddest Monster in my baby’s anxiety closet.

Still, she’s soldiering on; ALL the signs look VERY good—you guys obviously have an in with The Big Boss!

So, thank you all for your prayers and wellwishes, and soon she’ll be writing to you herself.

And, once again, I thank you all for your prayers and good wishes.