It's been a tough day folks.
Took Debbie to see a cardiologist today because of some unique results on a recent CAT scan. Turns out Debbie has a condition called Coarctation of the Aorta. Basically it means that her aorta is severely pinched off resulting in greatly restricted blood flow to her abdomen and lower extremities this is also probably the cause of high blood pressure that she's been battling since she was 18.
She has to undergo a bunch of preliminary testing and will go in for an aortic thoracotomy at the end of this month. The affected area cannot be repaired by any other means other than a graft of Dacron to replace the damaged area.
The surgery supposed to take 5 to 6 hours with the possibility of going on a heart-lung bypass machine during the procedure. The doctors may also have to drastically lowered her body temperature to reduce the amount of blood flow during the operation.
After the surgery should be moved to ICU for at least 24 hours and possibly more with the balance of her 7 to 10 day recovery taking place in the hospital.
We're also hoping that the surgery may end her dependence on high blood pressure medication that she's been on for a very long time.
Kind of stressing out a little bit over here folks.
