March 31, 2009
Well, as many of you have heard, my wife, Lynn Christian, is having some medical issues. Actually, this is probably her body's way of providing some economic stimulus to the medical industry. I am setting up this blog so that people who want to know what is happening can check in periodically to get updates, since it may be hard to reach either Lynn or myself. I'll try to keep up with it as much as possible, God (and Mac and Carlee) willing.
This is pretty much how everything got started. (The first part of this sage was more involved than this, and I might have some events mixed up, but bear in mind that my memory is so bad that I'd forget my own birthday if it wasn't written on my driver's license) Back in February, Lynn had a couple of episodes where the vision in her right eye basically blanked out. It was as if someone had thrown a curtain over her eye. It came back almost immediately, but, needless to say, this was a bit alarming to her, especially since one of the times this happened was when she was driving the car. It was only the right eye. She discussed this with her doctor, and then she was referred to a specialist. Last week, she had a procedure done that was essentially like a doppler radar, which checked the condition of her carotid arteries, the ones that supply blood to her brain, and of her heart. The testing indicated that her carotid artery on the right side was substantially blocked, and that the arteries that supply the blood to her heart may also have some problems. Her heart muscle at rest was at about 40% normal capacity, which is much less than the 55% that is considered normal.
Well, as many of you have heard, my wife, Lynn Christian, is having some medical issues. Actually, this is probably her body's way of providing some economic stimulus to the medical industry. I am setting up this blog so that people who want to know what is happening can check in periodically to get updates, since it may be hard to reach either Lynn or myself. I'll try to keep up with it as much as possible, God (and Mac and Carlee) willing.
This is pretty much how everything got started. (The first part of this sage was more involved than this, and I might have some events mixed up, but bear in mind that my memory is so bad that I'd forget my own birthday if it wasn't written on my driver's license) Back in February, Lynn had a couple of episodes where the vision in her right eye basically blanked out. It was as if someone had thrown a curtain over her eye. It came back almost immediately, but, needless to say, this was a bit alarming to her, especially since one of the times this happened was when she was driving the car. It was only the right eye. She discussed this with her doctor, and then she was referred to a specialist. Last week, she had a procedure done that was essentially like a doppler radar, which checked the condition of her carotid arteries, the ones that supply blood to her brain, and of her heart. The testing indicated that her carotid artery on the right side was substantially blocked, and that the arteries that supply the blood to her heart may also have some problems. Her heart muscle at rest was at about 40% normal capacity, which is much less than the 55% that is considered normal.
At this point, the specialist decided that she needed an angioplasty procedure. This involves running a thin tube up inside her arteries, entering from the upper thigh, and then moving the tube to where it is adjacent to the artery that needs to be checked out. Dye can be injected that shows up on an x-ray, showing exactly what the blood flow is in the trouble spot. If there was a problem, it would also be possible to install a stint. These are small mesh tubes that are placed inside the thin blood vessel, and then are expanded outward, opening up the choke point.
The angioplasty was done on Monday, March 30th, at Riverside in the McConnel Heart center. The whole thing took about an hour, and the procedure itself went smoothly.
The results were not what we had hoped for, to say the least. Her right carotid artery had about a 95% blockage. The left was fine, however, with less than 30% blockage. The following image was given to us by the physician, and has the blockage circled.
The dark area shows where the blood is located in the vessel. The bold black line shown should be roughly continually the same size throughout. As you can see, there is an extremely narrow black line that is circled - this is the narrow section where blood flow is constricted and where the blockage is located.
The test also showed that she also had some issues with her cardiac arteries. There were two significant blockages, both at around 70%. One of these was at the base of the largest network of arteries serving the heart, while the other was downstream. It is hard to see, but the following image indicates the blockage area with an arrow. (Note: the loops you can see on the right are the wires that remain in place from her first cancer operation 20 years ago.)
The following sketch was provided by the specialist, Dr. Yacobah, and shows where the two main blockages are located. I colored it and added leaders to make it easier to decipher.
Dr. Yacobah had met with me immediately after she was done, and filled me in. And, after Lynn was stabilized, the staff let me go see her. This took quite a while, mainly due to the fact that there were some difficulties getting the wire out of her leg and to control the wound. Then, we met with the surgeon assigned to her, Dr. Blossom, to discuss what would be the next step. He recommended that he do a clean-out type of procedure for the carotid artery. Basically, an incision would be made in the neck adjacent to the artery. The damaged section of the artery would be bypassed by a plastic tube. Then, the artery would be pinched off at each end, and opened by the surgeon. The plaque that is causing the clog would be scraped out, and then the artery would be closed up. Some sort of sleeve would also be installed so that the artery would remain stable while it healed. Then, the artery would be returned to the blood flow, the bypass would be removed, the opening closed, and Lynn would be good as new.One danger is that, while the artery is being isolated and handled, a chunk of plaque could break loose and get into her brain, possibly causing a stroke. She will be wakened in the operating room and evaluated so that they can tell right away if this is the case (I hope they don't plan on asking her any current events questions, since she wouldn't know the answers on her BEST day!) The odds of this happening are pretty remote, however, and her chances overall are much improved since she is much younger than most of the people that have to have this operation performed. Stints like the ones I covered earlier were not merited. They usually lead to problems down the road, and she will be in much better shape if the artery cleaning procedure is done.
As far as the heart work is concerned, she will flat out have to have open heart double bypass surgery. Even if stints were merited, the location of the largest blockage is such that stints cannot be used. Yes, 45 years old and she has to have bypass surgery. The blood vessels that will be used for the two bypasses will come from her breasts.
I will totally leave that one alone...Her male relatives will have enough fun with that little nugget of information when she attends family events for many years to come.
Well, Lynn finished up yesterday, and was able to go home late that evening. She has not had much trouble with the incision point so far, at least that she will admit to. Today, we got a call about the date that the operations will occur. Dr. Blossom wants to move on the carotid artery immediately. She will have this done on Friday, sometime in the afternoon. If all goes well, she'll just have to spend one night, then will be allowed to go home Saturday. There will be an approximate 2 week period for her recovery, then the open heart surgery will be done. This should be the week after Easter, though we do not have the exact date.
Of course, the big question is why this happened. No one can know for sure, but it is probably related to the radiation she had for cancer bout #1, or related to the chemotherapy she had for cancer bout #2. Build-ups like this are very common for cancer patients.
I may add more to this later, but for now, I'll sign off. Thanks for show of support and the help so far. I am confident that she will be around for many years to come - after all, pretty soon she is going to run out of diseases to get!
Jim
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