Prayers for my mom please gang

So mom had open heart surgery today...we kinda thought it was gonna be fairly routine...we were wrong. Got there at 7am, got home about 9:30pm....

In short, yes, things are ok...at least they're getting better. What took so long was the surgery was HUGE...they had to repair two valves...well, replace one and repair another by inserting something into it. They had to do it that way because it was so calcified that any other way would require cutting it out and quite frankly mom wouldn't have survived that. So they replaced the first one, no problem, it's working fine...they got to the more heavily calcified one and that's where the problem started...as they began inserting the "catheter" into the valve a piece of the calcium broke off inside the original valve...again they couldn't go in and retrieve it because that would require cutting the old valve out, so they isolated it with the catheter basically. In other words imagine a balloon inside the valve and the piece of calcium is pressed between the outside of the balloon wall and the inside of her artery wall. The good news is, the blood is flowing as it should through the new artery and the artery they put the stint in...so her heart is doing what it should now. The gray area is they're not sure if any other pieces of calcium could've potentially broken off in the surgery and ended up in any vital areas. And they're not sure if somehow that piece of calcium will dislodge. So she has to be watched closely.

They closed her up and took her off the machines...we were told that she was unstable when they took her off the machines, but they stabilized her and got her blood pressure up to normal, got her temp normal and her blood appears to be clotting well. So they brought us back to see her...she was still out cold so she obviously was unresponsive and she was swollen and had tubes all over the place...but the positives are she came through the surgery...her vitals stabilized...her body is doing what it should...her blood is clotting as it should. The question is did any pieces of calcium chip off and potentially go to her brain and cause a stroke...they won't know that until she comes out of sedation and they can interact with her. There are no signs that it even occurred, but the doctor has to throw it out there. They did an EKG and nothing had changed, so that's good.

I just can't wait for her to come out of sedation so we can talk to her.

One of the surgeons said that your artery should be spongy and soft...mom's felt like you were touching a piece of bone.

4 victories right off the bat, the machine they had her on during surgery...according to the surgeon some people never come off that machine when faced with a surgery of this severity....mom came off the machine fine. 2, she's producing urine...that's good, 3 the blood pressure meds the nurse had to put her on to get her BP up she already was able to stop giving her and 4 even while we were in the room for a short time the blood coming out was decreasing...which is good because that means her body is clotting it and stopping the bleeding.

My poor mom...

Your poor mom, yes... but she sounds like a fighter and having raised a dude like you she's probably been through worse ...obviously I'm not a cardiologist but a blessing in disguise may be that if the piece of calcium is big enough then it'll be stuck there for good. The smaller it is then it seems like it could become dislodged more easily.

Prayers sent overnight express, bud.

I'll come out of retirement for this one.



I don't ever pray, but you're a good dude in my eyes, and that means to me your mom must be a great woman. I'll be hoping with all of my will that she comes through and spends the rest of her long life continuing to be the woman you know and love.

Best of luck to your mom, bro. I'm 100% pulling for a real win for you and your mom. You deserve it!

Oh man i am really sorry to hear that buddy. i will definitly keep your mom in my prayers. Best of luck to both of you.

Thank you guys. We got bad news at 4am....mom took a turn for the worse and they had to open her back up. We're waiting and praying ....she's in bad shape right now

Am hoping for the best man.

Thanks again ...gonna go talk to mom again shortly hoping she can hear us

Mom's are what makes the world a bearable place, my thoughts are with you and hoping for the best.

Jeez man, heart surgery is rough. My thoughts are with you and your family, in what I can only imagine to be one of the hardest times your family has/will have to deal with.

i'm the noob here, and to be honest, if i preyed i would imagine god would look around and say "who the fuck is that?" but i will do what i can to send spiritual energy your mom, and your families way as well. i'm glad she has stabilized and i hope she gets better.

Well gang...very very surreal moments for me and my family. Mom passed away late last night. She started stabilizing a couple days ago but just took a turn for the worse and it never went back up again. She was so swollen they had to reopen her chest and leave her open because the external pressure of closing her caused her heart to not function properly. She didn't look like herself. She's at peace now. I'm believer...I KNOW my mom is in Heaven looking down upon us all. Even though we don't truly know you guys, she sees that you showed concern and we all appreciate it.

Sorry to hear about your loss Sam, my condolences.

Sorry for your loss Sam.....

Moms are with us forever... I lost my mom 15 years ago and she is with me every day.

My sincerest condolences, stay strong friend.

My deepest condolences to you and your family Sam. Krieger said it all, moms are the glue of civilization and she will be with you until the day you meet again, no doubt. "Dude my mom would kill me for this" absolutely WILL be a part of your thought process lol, and if there's anything more valuable than that I haven't seen it. Prayers inbound.

So sorry man. I lost my mother in law this year, but I still can't imagine what you're going through right now. I feel for you man, really I do. Just try to keep your head up and know that she's at rest, not having to fight anymore.

Sorry man, my sincere condolences.
Stay strong... your mom will be watching over you forever.
She may be gone, but memories can never be taken away.
Take care.

Thanks everyone. This is the only forum that I visit that I posted anything about it because I know you guys are all awesome and supportive. My dear mom will be missed...

I am so sorry for your loss sam. My sincere condolences to you buddy.

I somehow missed this post. Sam I am very sorry for your loss.

Thanks again guys. It's one day at a time. My brothers have been going to my dad's house everyday and I've been calling him every night. Mom and dad were married 42 years...would've been 43 in September of this year. I can't imagine the pain and loneliness he's feeling. I mean we're sad and we miss mom terribly, but we have our own families that keep our minds and hearts moving in the right direction, but man...to lose your partner of nearly 43 years...your kids are all grown. Poor dad.

Very sorry to hear about your loss there big fella.

Really sorry to hear about this. I hope you and your family are coping well.