Ilana's Posts

Hi there! Still in Cleveland... Didn't get to got home bc of some fluid on my lungs. Will not need to drain it, just more lasix! I pee like a newborn baby... Lol! The pain got me bad once I left the ICU, but is better now. ICU was great! Then it got a little hardcore but I made it. My veins are famous now since people could not find them! They had to request a special team! Wow! The dude is a rockstar and got me a new iv line - after I had a whole unit of blood through a bad painful iv that didn't work! My arms are a mess... Going to work on my breathing.... And pee pee! Lol! More later!

Ilana had her surgery today. The good news is that Dr. Mihaljevic was able to do a repair. He believes that it was a success. We feel very fortunate since going in we were told that there was a 75% chance of a repair and a 25% chance that he would do a replacement. At present, she is in the excellerated ICU. She had a lot of pain. She told me it was an 8 on a 10 point scale. However, they switched her medication and it is down to a 2. Here is a run down of her day. 3:30AM: she had to take her antibacterial shower. 5:15AM she was admitted into the hospital 6:00AM she was in the pre-op 7:15AM she was sent to the anesthesiology prep area 9:09AM they made their first incision 10:08AM they were doing the major part of the work on the heart 2PM they removed the breathing tube 2:10PM her family was allowed to visit her in the ICU. I just left Ilana at the ICU at 5PM. The attending physician said she is way ahead of schedule and she is on one of her quickest recoveries that she has ever seen. I am really proud of Ilana's fighting spirit. She hates needles and this is her first surgery and she is doing great. I hope her progress continues. Ilana wants to thank all of her well wishers for all of your support and all of your heart felt prayers. Ethan

Had the last part of the pre-op today and met Dr.Mihaljevic. LONG freaking day, 5 hours delayed! I was SO grumpy I don't even know how I'm still married... lol! My hubby is a saint :) And so is my Mammy! Dr. Tom (as Barry S. says) is going to try a repair, so lets hope for it! If he can't, then a tissues valve. I'm starting to think about the mechanical since I don't think I can take this more than one time, but terrified of coumadin! Plus, I don't have human kids yet and Dr.Tom says mechanical is not a good match for pregnancy... so I REALLY pray the repair will be possible! Also, I was told today my leak is a number 4+! The worse case being 4... ouch! I guess that's why I feel like dog poop... lol. Btw, he says "Hi" back to Barry S and was very impressed with your half marathon :) He had a huge smile on his face when I told him! And he said his daughter is doing great, it was a false alarm. I have to check in at 5:15am tomorrow, so I better try to get some sleep... try is the right word! lol Hubby will update here. I hope I'll be doing it soon! Good luck to everybody out there!! Say a prayer for me if you can ;) Thank you!