Ken and Tara,
Thanks for sending me the info on the upcoming surgery and especially the link to this site. As you know, I'm a cardiac nurse. What a great resource for my patients and their families. Ken, you will do fantastic. Just remember to get out of bed when the nurses tell you to and BREATHE!You know Brownie troop 779 is here for you if you guys need anything!Plus, you need to recover quickly so you can fix the lame Gator emblem on the back of my Yukon!!! If you guys have any questions before or after surgery, please don't hesitate to give me a call.Good luck.
You are in our prayers.
Kim Giberti and the rest of the girls from Mckenna's Brownie troop!!!!

We know you are absolutely unnerved right now for sure.
Just take very deep breaths!!!
We are unnerved today. Jessica is in the hospital with heart problems!!! Her rate went up to 280. They pumped her full of potassium and put her on beta blockers, saying stress, no sleep, not eating, etc. are the probable cause for this. She is in a regular room now and doing much better. Thank God!!
ok...we are still continuing to send prayers your way and waiting for your updates.
love,
susan and Stewart

Ken,
Just to let you know I'm in some what of the same position as you. I had my pre-surgical testing yesterday which included a cardiac cath. I'm scheduled for a MV repair next week at Mt. Sinai Medical Center in NY. The cath and the testing was done all in the hospital. The sedation used is called conscious sedation, which basically where they put you in twilight sleep. They used Versed and Morphine. Right after the procedure which took about a 1/2 hour, I thought I was awake and remembered everything. The more I thought about it I realized I remembered hardly anything. I'm an ER nurse and have done conscious sedation numerous times on patients and have never run into a problem. Perhaps that is why I was not too concerned over it (not to say I wasn't nervous, because I was). The cath results were clean which makes me happy and I have had no pain at all. Not for nothing, I've never heard of free standing cath around here and wouldn't think of having it done anywhere other than a hospital. I hope this helps. Good luck to you.
Eric
Southold

Things are somewhat different here in Canada in that we don't have Cath labs. We have great cardiac clinics but this type of work is done in a hospital setting at hospitals that specialize in these type of procedures. I had both my Cath and TEE done within hours of each other and didn't require or get sedation for either. My throat was frozen locally which worked totally in that I cannot even say I felt the probe going in or out and then when I had the cath done, again, I was given a local freezing in the groin and was totally aware of and watched the entire proceedure on the screen, even asking questions when I could. It just wasn't a big deal at all. I am surprised to hear some of the American heart patients were sedated for some of these procedures. I can only assume nerves might be a cause for sedation because neither procedure was painful or even hurtful. Ken, try and relax. You really are going to be okay. I'm 60 and they were still referring to me as young and otherwise healthy. I was told these tests were diagnostic type tests that just tell the surgeon more how to go about doing what they must and will therefore take out some of the guess work. Gee, I hope some of this helps to waylay your fears for both you and your wife. Cheryl, Ontario

Ken,
I read your story, and wanted to weigh in...I was 33 years old when I found out I would need surgery and within the week. It was a huge surprise. It was scary, and I had two young daughters. But it will be 7 years tomorrow since my surgery. Just had a checkup, and am doing VERY well! Remember to talk to those who love you. Don't push too hard, but you have to work to get better! It will always affect you, but let it be in a good way! :)

Sending good wishes to you and yours. Keep your head up, it does get better!

M. Jensen

Ken and Tara,
Wow! So much to think about and deal with!
We know you are very anxious and moving up the date was probably the best thing for you!
We know several people who have had this done and are MUCH, MUCH older than you and are very active and doing very well!
Sending lots of prayers your way for the surgery and speedy recovery.
ml
the Maxcy's

Hi Ken,
Just dropping in to wish you well and let you know you've got lots of support. You are young and will sail through this but that doesn't take away from how scary a procedure this is for the lay person. Statistically in the States your surgeons are doing much more of these type of procedures than here in Canada so your doctors should be top-drawer!

My MVP was repaired and I look forward to meeting with the surgeon again in about 5 more weeks to find out the total outcome.

I don't have wee children but I do have two grandchildren, 8 and 11 yr olds and I talked often about my surgery with them letting them know it would be hurtful but really, just another day. We talked about the sternum and Black and Decker power tools and mostly, we tried to make light of the situation. They were looking forward to visiting me in the hospital. I think the key is to let them believe you will be just fine and don't show them your fears.

Will be watching your journal as you proceed. Soon, it will be all over. Good luck.

Cheryl, Ontario

The heart murmur must run in the family...maybe I need to go have mine checked out too. I hope you are feeling well. We will be praying for all of you! Your part Woodfin! You'l be fine!
Love your favorite cousin from Daytona!!

We love you so much!
we hope the surgery will go good!
Love jordyn

Hey Cousin! I love you. I'm so sorry you have to go through this and just know I love you Love you Love you.

Ken - we have been away for over a week, and just now seeing this - an awesome site and way to keep loved ones posted. We want you to know Uncle Wyc and I (etc) are praying strong for you, sweet nephew. This is a great site. We love you so much!!

I am so sorry to find out that you are going through this. The good thing is that you are such a tough SOB!!! Be yourself and do what they tell you. I am here for you and your family, whatever any of you need. I love you Ken.
I'll be watching you through this site. Be good.

Darin

Hi Ken,

Nice to meet you and thanks for sharing your story with all of us.

It seems like you have had some problems with the new system. Sorry about that.

Could you explain what went wrong? If you could, please send me an email at adam@heart-valve-surgery.com.

Keep on tickin!

Adam

OK. I'll just come out and say it. I love Ken. I love him in a manly way though. We're both very manly about our love. We're praying for ya, Ken! -mickey