Omentum and Pectoral Flap Post Aortic Valve Infection
Back at the beginning of January 2018 my husband, Justin, was sent back down to Mayo Clinic, in Rochester, MN.
This fall he started having fluid collecting around his scar on his chest. It started draining and would heal over. In October they removed the wires on his sternum. The thought was that since he is a slim guy the wires might just be irritating the skin and that’s why the fluid was collecting and draining.
Since the wire removal, it hasn’t completely healed and continues to drain. After getting in touch with his doctors at Mayo they put him on antibiotics while we waiting to get down here. We are not really sure what to expect today. But if you could add him to your prayers we would really appreciate it.
January 22, 2018
Well, we will be here a bit longer then we thought.
Tomorrow Justin will be going into surgery. They will be doing a debriment (fancy word for cleaning everything up) they think the infection may have gotten into his sternum and he may require a metal plate to be put in to help stabilize his chest.
They aren’t really sure how deep the infection is, so far his valve is looking good and doesn’t seem to be compromised (thank god!)
Tonight and today is kind of a waiting game to see what it looks like when they get in. So far they are expecting him to be down here for at least a week.
Depending on how things go tomorrow they may do another surgery or two while we are down here.
We may be going home with a wound vac, and for sure some type of antibiotics. Not sure if it will be IV or just pill form yet, again depends on tomorrow’s surgery.
Overall not the news we were hoping for but it could be worse, and we are with the best of the best when it comes to doctors.
Grayson and I are down here, we will be switching hotels on Wednesday to be closer to the hospital. Today Rochester got about a foot of wet heavy snow, so hotels were booked up and we couldn’t move sooner!
Grayson seems to be brightening everyone’s day as he goes by smiling in his stroller!
January 23, 2018
Justin just went down to surgery. It will be about half an hour before he is actually in the operating room. It is expected to be a 1-2 hour surgery.
The main waiting room was a little crowded so Grayson and I found a small quiet one down the hall.
Last night was a little tough for Justin. Just the unknowns of surgery and how bad the infection is. This is a verse I’ve been clinging too tightly.
Philippians 4:7
And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
This morning I’m praying for Justin and his surgical team. That things go smoothly, and the infection is able to be completely cleaned out.
9:30 am
They have officially started surgery.
1:00 pm
I know everyone is waiting for an update. He is still in surgery. Taking a little bit longer than expected.
5:30 pm
He’s out of surgery and in the ICU.
It was a lot longer of a surgery than expected. They ended up removing his entire sternum. They have left his chest packed and open for the night. They will be going back in tomorrow to clean things out again. They will also be taking part of the fatty tissue from his abdomen and covering where his chest bone was. Then they will pull the pectoral muscles across that.
Recovery will be long again. And we’re still not out of the woods yet.
I wish I had better news, we were definitely hoping for a much better prognosis, but we are keeping our faith in God’s plan for our family. I don’t know why we are still dealing with all of this, but we are. God is good. Please keep him and his doctors in your prayers.
This was us three years ago today! At sky’s first UND hockey game! Hopefully next year all four of us can take Grayson to his first game!
Also, Grayson has been a trooper today! He’s been all smiles, and is currently taking a nap in his stroller next to dads bed in the ICU.
I wish I had better news, we were definitely hoping for a much better prognosis, but we are keeping our faith in God’s plan for our family. I don’t know why we are still dealing with all of this, but we are. God is good. Please keep him and his doctors in your prayers.
This was us three years ago today! At sky’s first UND hockey game! Hopefully next year all four of us can take Grayson to his first game! Also, Grayson has been a trooper today! He’s been all smiles and is currently taking a nap in his stroller next to dads bed in the ICU.
11:00 PM
Thank you to everyone who has kept our family in your thoughts and prayers. I wish I could thank each and everyone of you individually!
Grayson and I are back at the hotel for the night. He is pretty tuckered out after a couple of pretty big days!
Justin will be going back into surgery sometime between 6-8 tomorrow morning. They will be doing a couple of different things during surgery, but the main goal is to close him up. He is still sedated and on a breathing tube; his chest was left open as well.
I don’t really know how long to expect tomorrows surgery, but it sounds like it will be pretty long.
Tonight I had to sign consent for tomorrow’s surgery. I tell ya what, that is a hard thing to do, even when it’s the only option at this point. Before he went into his first surgery in July of 2016 we sat down and went through his advanced health care directive. Tough questions to go through but glad we have it.
Debbie, Justin’s mom, is on the train right now on her way down and should be here early tomorrow afternoon. Skyler is staying home with my mom. I think Sky is a little worried, and not quite sure of everything going on. I really debated about if she should come down too. What I wouldn’t do for a Skyler hug right now!
I hate that I have Justin’s ring with me tonight. I wish he had it. It’s just one of those things that remind you he’s still not doing great.
All day today emotions have been welling up to the point where you feel that breaking point coming, each time I keep asking for God to blanket me in peace. And each time he does. I told you I’ve been clinging to that verse!
Thank you all so much for your prayers!
Psalm 66:19 “But truly God has listened; he has attended to the voice of my prayer.”
January 24, 2018
7:00 am
Justin just got wheeled down to surgery.
The goal is to do an omental flap procedure. Basically, they are taking a fatty tissue from his abdomen and pulling it up to his sternum area.
Hopefully, they will be able to close him today.
When Grayson and I got here this morning Justin was somewhat awake. Good to see him responding well to commands. He still had the breathing tube in so he couldn’t talk but he said he wasn’t in pain. We got to watch them hook everything up to take him down to the OR and give him a kiss goodbye.
They don’t really know how long this surgery will take today. It’s scheduled for 2 hours but that doesn’t really mean much. I’m pretty sure it will be longer than that.
I got our bags packed and the pickup moved over to the new hotel across the street. The old f250 is not a thrill to navigate around the city, and parking it leaves much to be desired!
Debbie should get here around noon. Grayson and I are headed to the cafeteria to get some breakfast finally!
Today will be a good day, I can feel it! Thank you so much to everyone who prayed for us through the night and continues to pray today! I am definitely feeling the Holy Spirit here today! God is so good!
4:30 pm
❤️❤️he is out of surgery things went really well. We are back with him in the ICU I’ll give more of an update soon!❤️❤️
1:26 pm
Justin is still in surgery. Debbie got here a little while ago, we just went down to the cafeteria and had lunch.
4:00 pm
So the surgery went well but they didn’t end up closing him completely. They took a bit more bone out from his sternum and did the omentum procedure. They take the fatty tissue from the abdomen and bring it up to his chest. Then they use that tissue to pack in the area around the aortic graff. This helps protect the graff and provides really good blood supply which delivers white blood cells to help fight infection!
That procedure comes with the risk puncturing the gi track. Good news no punctures!
As of right now, the chest is open they will be going back in Friday to bring his pectoral muscles across his chest and then close completely. It’s a little bit frustrating that he is still open, but there are benefits to doing this in stages.
So far he is still on a breathing tube and is sedated. They are waiting to hear from his surgeon to see if he wants them to remove tubes and wake him all the way up. We still haven’t talked to the surgeon yet at all following today’s surgery.
We did get to talk with the plastic surgeon who did the omentum part of this surgery. He was super helpful in explaining what all has been done. The communication hasn’t been super phenomenal but we finally got some answers from the plastics team.
Thank you all for your prayers. Today was a good day, not the end but a good day!
January 25, 2018
Last night was uneventful which is good! Before we left last night he was pretty alert. They are keeping the breathing tubes in until the next surgery tomorrow.
Today has been kinda painful to watch him struggle with the breathing tubes. If they were to take them out he would be coughing a lot which wouldn’t really be good for his chest since things aren’t really very secure yet. One blessing is that they have him in spontaneous breathing so his lungs are doing the work.
Last night he was the most alert we have seen him since all of this started. He was asking to write something. The first thing he asked was what was going on, then what day it was. Can’t blame him I don’t even know what day it is most of the time!
He’s been a little worried about what all is going on and what this means long term. Next, he wrote what I’m adding as a photo. Took some time to figure out what he was saying! But he wanted me to “thank mom”.
Today will be kinda a down day. I hope to give another uneventful update tonight when we get back to the hotel.
We did get to talk with the surgeon today and got a few questions answered. Which was good.
In the middle of writing, this ID (infectious disease) came in and talked with us. Basically just explained what they are looking for and what questions they are trying to answer.
They have a lot of things to figure out but we are confident in the ID team.
To everyone who has been praying for me through all of this I really want to thank you! God is certainly been with me. I am feeling very supported. Been good to have a day off of surgery to just kinda hang out with him and hold his hand!
January 26, 2018
Lord, I am coming to you this morning. I am scared, I am worried, I am afraid. Lord, I pray for your peace and comfort to wrap around me as I start today.
Psalms 55:22
Give your burdens to the LORD, and he will take care of you. He will not permit the godly to slip and fall
God be with Justin’s surgeons today as they get ready to complete this next surgery. Be with each and every nurse and doctor. Help them to make the right decisions for Justin’s health.
Lord, I bring my worries and I bring my fear to your throne. I lay them at your feet and pray that you wrap me in your peace that surpasses all understanding. For you are my god, and you are a good god.
I pray that anyone who reads this today joins me in prayer, to lift up Justin and his team. May their faith be renewed in you lord. I know that you are using me and my word to help me minister to others as I walk through this. Please continue to use me to share your teachings, and to lead others to you.
This I ask in your Holy name Amen.
Justin will be going into surgery today around noon. He has been bumped back to the third case. They had a few emergency cases come in that pushed him back.
Last night went well. This morning they have turned his sedative down some so he’s a bit more responsive than yesterday. He’s been writing a little bit. So far today we have seen the plastics team to sign the consent for today. We also met with one of the infectious disease team members as well.
He is ready to get this darn breathing tube out!
The surgery today they plan to take the pectoral muscles on his chest and lift them up off the ribs, then they will pull them across where the sternum was and stitch them to each other. Essentially creating one big muscle. This will help protect the graff and the heart since the sternum is no longer there to do that.
They won’t be connecting the bones to each other and they won’t grow together. They don’t want to use a plate because if they did there is more hardware to become infected. By using his own body to close and protect the heart it starts to minimize the risk of infection.
Infections like to cling to foreign things in the body. Things like rods, plates or screws can clean themselves of the infection the way the body’s own tissue does.
During the last surgery when they brought the omentum (fatty tissue from his tummy) up they packed it around the graff and valve. Basically plugged up all the little holes and dead space around the outside. While the graff has a lot of blood supply on the inside unless there is healthy tissue on the outside it can’t clean its self of any infection. By bringing that healthy tissue up there it acts as kinda a cleaning sponge type thing when Justin takes antibiotics they are able to get to the outside of the graff now through the omentum. It also increases the number of white blood cells to the outside of the graft so the body can fight infection and keep the graff clean.
I know a lot of this is a bit complicated and confusing, and I’m not sure Justin fully understands what’s happening still.
The plan is to take the breathing tube out tonight after he is out of surgery. So hopefully then he will get to ask more questions and understand more of what’s going on.
Thank you all so much for your prayers today! I’ll start another post when he goes into surgery this afternoon, and then just updated that post throughout the surgery.
First John 5:14-15 “And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him.”
11:35 am
he left the ICU headed to the operating room.
2:00 pm
Still, in surgery, we are enjoying some beautiful piano music in the front of the hospital right now! I wish I knew how to play piano just so I could bring that type of joy to others in places like this!
3:00 pm
Just about finished up. Expecting to have him up in the ICU and ready to see him at about 4 sounds like things are going well!
4:30 pm
He’s out of surgery and in the ICU still waiting for Drs to come check in before waking him up and taking breathing tubes out.
6:50 pm
Still has the breathing tub starting to wake up a bit more. Just waiting for is cardiac dr to give the okay to take the breathing tube out. The plastics team has given the okay. They are the ones who did today’s surgery.
We have been back in the ICU with him since he landed here at 4.
8:30 pm
Erin and Andrew got here. They will be down at least for the weekend.
10:00 pm
Breathing tubes are out!!!
January 27, 2018
Things are going well today! Completely off oxygen. They just got him up in the chair, and he ate some jello and had some juice.
They just moved him to the step-down unit. Not really sure how long we will be in here at this point, but this is the room he will be in until discharge.
He’s sleeping now after the move out of ICU.
We are in room 5-672. I know some people were asking about sending flowers or cards.
Today was really good. He got moved to the step-down unit. Ate some chicken noodle soup for lunch. Got up and walked twice, and sat in the chair most of the day.
Finally able to look towards heading home instead of the next surgery. Thank you all so much for all your prayers. We are so incredibly grateful! God is so good!
This recovery will be long. As I pray about it I pray for patients for Justin and myself with each other and the healing process. I’m so glad we had Grayson with today he seemed to be the thing we could count on to lift Justin’s spirits!
I’m so thankful to be able to finally report some good news!
January 29, 2018
Debbie Grayson and I are heading across the street to the hospital this morning. We are hoping to catch all the Drs as they make rounds this morning. Yesterday went really well. He’s finally looking a bit more like himself. His hemoglobin was a bit low yesterday so depending on today’s numbers they may be giving him a unit of blood today.
Yesterday he was up and walking about 3 times. He’s still using the walker but goes a little farther each time! Not sure when we are heading home but looks like sometime this week.
Thank you all so much for your prayers and love. Today as I watch the sun rise over the hospital I have to thank god. I am so thankful we are able to watch the sunrise today.
God is good.
January 30, 2018
Today is going really well up and walking lots of Drs in and out. Looks like we are heading home tomorrow!
He got his pic line in this morning they took off the wound vac and pulled two of the 4 jp drains. We will take the other two home with us. There has been a waiting line for teams to see him OT, PT, plastics, social worker, cardiac pa! He finally got a shower for the first time this afternoon!
His appetite is finally starting to pick up some. He’s in a brace that keeps his elbows right next to his ribs to help the pectoral muscles heal together across where his sternum. Since he can’t really move his arms much for balance we are going home with a walker just to help with stability. I’m sure Sky will have it all decorated up in no time!
Thank you all so much for all your prayers and messages and for just loving our family! These next few months are gonna be a long road to recovery. But we are going to lean on God and each other!
I think we might have some nursing staff going through Grayson withdrawals when we leave tomorrow!
January 31, 2018
Thought we were going home today but looks like we will be here another couple days.
He’s had some swelling in his arm and they finally did an echo on it and found some blood clots. So they will be doing a few extra tests and starting a heparin drip to try and dissolve the clots.
Kinda bummed we aren’t going home but super thankful they found these while we were still down here and can take care of things before it gets worse.
February 1, 2018
We will be here at least one more day still trying to get things figured out with the blood clot and getting things set up for home.
We will be seeing the cardiovascular surgical team today for some recommendations moving forward.
He’s getting a unit of blood this afternoon since his hemoglobin has been down. Hopefully, that will give him some energy and help him feel a little bit better!
Thank you all so much for your continued prayers and love! We appreciate it so much!
February 2, 2018
I was really hoping to be updating you tonight from Fargo but we are still in Rochester. This morning his INR levels (blood thinner) had dropped significantly. He’s been on a heparin drop to bridge him while the INR gets to the therapeutic level. They want him between 2-3 yesterday he was at 2.7 and today it dropped to 1.6 they will let us leave tomorrow if it’s up to at least 1.8!
We have had our bags packed for 3 days now, this morning we even got some out of the pickup before we found out we would be staying longer.
Hopefully, we will be pulling out of here after he finishes his morning antibiotics, so we can get on the road and pick up the home antibiotics in Fargo!
Thank you all so much for your continued prayers. We are so incredibly grateful. We have met so many amazing people this last 11 days. We have been growing our own prayer lists as we have gotten to know some strong families!
Tonight I want to lift up Beverly and her husband who is still in the ICU, Brady and his parents, Madison and her parents, as they head home, and our nurse terra and her mom who is down here after receiving a heart transplant. I’m am so honored to have met such amazing patients, with such strong support systems! Lord wrap them in your arms, give them peace in the uncertainty as they continue down their road of healing. Thank you for their care teams, and thank you for bringing them into my life!
This was a ct scan from October before they took out wires.
February 3, 2018
Still in the hospital. INR levels were still down this morning. Hopefully, we can bust out tomorrow!
February 4, 2018
I’ve got my sunglasses on because we are heading home!!
We will be staying the night in Fargo tonight after we stop there to get antibiotics! Then it’s Tioga bound in the morning!
Taking a bit of a long way home to bypass the super bowl craze in the cities! So far the drive is going good, we’ve successfully gotten Justin in and out of the pickup for a few stretches already! Stopping for some ice cream right now before we carry on!
Thank you all so much for your love support and prayers these past few weeks, it truly means the world to us! I can wait to get home to see Skyler! I sure do miss that girl!
February 6, 2018
We made it home last night. I can not tell you how wonderful it feels to finally be home, and start to get back to a normal rhythm of life! As normal as can be anyway! I want to thank everyone who has kept us in your prayers! We are so incredibly grateful!
You should have seen Grayson’s face when he saw Sky walked in the door last night! That boy sure did miss his big sister! Poor kiddo about had a meltdown when she left the living room to bring something to her room. He scooted right after her worried he wouldn’t be able to keep up!
While we were down at mayo he popped his two top teeth through! He sure has a pretty cute smile, until he tries those tiny teeth out on your shoulder!
Sky was pretty excited for all of us to be home. I about fell asleep in her bed last night cuddling with her and talking about everything that has happened the last few weeks. She’s pretty sure she needs to come with when we go for his follow up appointments in a couple of weeks. I told her we would have to wait and see, no promises yet.
This afternoon Lorin, Justin’s dad, came over and Justin and Lorin went through a bull sale catalog. Originally Justin and Lorin had planned to go together to a sale on the 7th. Justin has decided to stay home, and send Lorin to the sale on his own. I sat in the kitchen today listening to those two bickers back and forth in the living room about what bulls to buy. I tell ya what I wouldn’t trade that for the world!
Overall Justin is feeling pretty good considering everything he went through. Our counter looks like a pharmacy right now with all his medications laid out. This time around we are doing IV antibiotics every 8 hours instead of every 12, which means some early mornings for us. Luckily Grayson has really enjoyed being back in his own crib, and everyone is finally getting some quality sleep!
Tomorrow’s plan is to get to the grocery store and finish laundry! Didn’t think I would look forward to those tasks so much, but anything is better than heading to the hospital!
I’m off to go unhook some IV’s and then get some sleep!
February 14, 2018
We are heading back to Mayo for checkups this week. We stayed in Fargo last night and today we are continuing on to Rochester.
Justin has appointments with infectious disease and plastics. Hopefully, they will be pulling his pic line and starting the long-term antibiotics.
Plastics will be removing sutures and staples. We will also hope to get a clearer picture of what recovery will look like.
Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers!
A year ago today we were heading down to Mayo for the first time! Happy Valentine’s Day!
February 16, 2018
12:00 pm
Just getting started with appointments today.
Yesterday we had to wait almost two hours to get into see plastics. They removed Justin’s sutures and staples. He can now take off the binder that holds his arms in but needs to still keep his arms in.
In about another week or so he can start moving a bit more but he needs to take it pretty slow for the next couple of months.
Justin was pretty excited to hear he will be able to hunt again! Probably not anything until the fall though!
This afternoon we meet with infectious disease after doing blood work. We are hoping they will pull his pic line and he will get to start the long-term antibiotics.
Right now we are having brunch after his first appointment. It’s a lot colder this morning then it was the last few days here! We are planning on leaving tomorrow morning!
9:30 pm
They pulled the pic line this afternoon and he has now started the oral lifetime antibiotics. There are a few things we will need to watch out for with those but the rewards outweigh the risks in the long term.
There was a little bit of a hiccup with the scheduling this afternoon and we almost had to stay until Monday to get his pic line pulled.
Infectious disease sent us over to the infusion clinic to pull the line. When we got there they told us they couldn’t pull the type of line Justin has. (His is in his chest because he can’t move his arms) of course, we sat in their waiting room until 5:30 on a Friday before they realized they couldn’t pull it there.
Then they couldn’t get ahold of the dr who put in the order for him to change the order to a radiology order. So we started to head back to the hotel thinking they wouldn’t be able to do it until Monday. Luckily they called and said they were going to get a on-call surgeon to come pull it. Of course, this is at 6 pm when the buses stop running. So I rode the bus back to get the car while Justin waited for the surgeon.
He got it pulled and we will be heading home tomorrow!
Thank you all for your continued prayers and support! We are so incredibly grateful.
February 18, 2018
We made it home! I am so excited to sleep in my own bed! Originally we planned on staying in Fargo tonight but after looking at the road reports and weather we decided it was best to get home before the snow started!
Roads were good once we made it to the cities. It was a little dicey just out of Rochester!
