Aortic Stenosis

As most of you know, Glen had open heart surgery on Thursday, January 21, 2010, at Ben Taub Hospital in Houston, TX.

His diagnosis was Aortic stenosis which is the narrowing or obstruction of the heart's aortic valve, which prevents it from opening properly and blocks the flow of blood from the left lower chamber of the heart to the aorta. The aorta is the main artery leaving the heart. His aortic valve was replaced with a mechanical one and he seemed to tolerate the surgery well.

The next day, when the breathing tube was removed, Glen's lungs were unable to sustain him. Because his airway swelled upon removal of the breathing tube, another, smaller tube was used and Glen was given steroids to alleviate the swelling. In addition, Glen, being the anxious person he is, was given a drug that kept him asleep and unable to move to help his body rest and regenerate. Three or 4 days later, the larger breathing tube was reinserted to better support him.

On Monday, January 26, and he was taken off the medicine that kept him asleep. Additionally, they began to wean him from the sedation meds and the pain medication to get him more alert in an attempt to get the breathing tube out. It took several days for Glen's body to process the medicine through his body and he gradually became more and more aware of his surroundings.

However, another complication - pneumonia - also developed in the next few days. The doctor ordered a sample of his bronchial secretions be cultured and Glen was diagnosed with pneumonia. While the chest tube that had been inserted on his left side was removed on earlier in the week, another was inserted in his right side on either Tuesday to drain his lungs. Another tube was inserted on the left side on Thursday to help drain his lungs. He was given antibiotics to target the pneumonia and I' glad to say that he responded well to that treatment and according to the doctors, the pneumonia is resolving.

Glen's lungs were only functioning at one-half capacity before he had this surgery. It's not an unheard of complication that he has had lung failure. The doctors have counseled that it may be necessary to perform a tracheotomy on Glen. While we were hoping that would not be necessary, it appears that in order to prevent a secondary infection and to give Glen's lungs more time to heal, he will require one this week. The doctor says it would be for about a two-week period - so that's good news. Not permanent - yeah!

They will be able to get him up and moving around - and he'll get some rehab since he's been immobile for so long. His muscles will be weak and he'll need some support to get around. Having the trach in will allow him to be up and moving.

Glen's family wanted to thank all of his friends for their support and concern for Glen and his Aunt, Karine. We are going to try to update this blog at least every other day or so to let you know how Glen is doing. I'm confident the news will be better and better every day.

If you'd like to leave a comment or two for Glen, please feel free to do so and we will take your good wishes up to him on one of our visits. Please keep Glen in your thoughts and prayers.