PRAYERS FOR MY WIFE NIKI-Updated

[REBELYELL]

Today

After much debate, Niki will be having heart surgery Thursday or Friday to replace her mitral valve. The plan is to go through her side instead of her chest because of her back. They will be using a cow or pig valve. They don't want to use a mechanical valve because they don't want her on blood thinner with back surgery coming up next. She is at Barnes Jewish here in St. Louis and Dr. Marc Moon will be doing the surgery. They are waiting a couple of days to get some fluid off of her and collecting all her medical history from back home. Hopefully everything goes well and she can get her back fixed later this Fall.

Friday

Well, we got a phone call late yesterday afternoon and the anesthesia department had some concerns about some red flags in my wife's medical history. They sent us to the Center for Advanced Medicine-South County today for a second opinion on her heart condition. After reviewing everything and talking to the spine surgeon, they felt it was best to have heart surgery before such a high risk back surgery. She is still having surgery next week at Barnes Jewish, but now it's open heart surgery to replace her mitral valve. If everything goes well, we will return home and then come back in 3-4 months for back surgery.

Thursday

Thanks for all the prayers guys. We made it in last night and spent all day at the hospital. She had a spinal CT myelogram, then it was off to x-rays followed up with a meeting with the surgeon and part of his staff. After meeting with the surgeon, she had to go through the CPAP presurgery evaluation and going over all of her medical history. The surgeon said it was going to be a big surgery and would take all day. He said there was a possibility that it could turn into a 2 day surgery, with the second one being 3-4 days later. It will all depend on how things go with the first surgery and how much progress he makes, including removing all of the existing hardware. Once that is done, he will have to take a wedge out of her spine to hopefully get her straight again, and then replacing all of the hardware including new rods and screws. Only this time, it will be more extensive and time consuming because he will anchor everything to her pelvic bones. She has to have a central line put in Friday morning and then surgery Monday morning. I will update again next week after the surgery.

Monday

We are leaving in the morning for St. Louis, MO. My wife is having MAJOR back surgery at Barnes Jewish Hospital. They will be removing all of this broken hardware and replacing it, but this time they are attaching it to her hip bones to secure it. She had the initial surgery in 2012 for Scoliosis, a surgery she still regrets to this day. What was supposed to make her better for the long term has turned into a nightmare or literally a living hell for her. In 2014, she bent over slightly to put a DVD in the player and one of the rods popped. She said it sounded like a .22 rifle it was so loud. We went to St. Louis later that year where she was referred because her original surgeon felt the repair was too complicated for anyone here in MS to attempt. We scheduled surgery for the Spring of 2015, but she started have some other health issues and we had to cancel it. Since that time, she has been dealing with Lupus, which they now believe is Scleroderma. More recently, she has been fighting pulmonary hypertension in her lungs and a couple of weeks ago, she was diagnosed with Mitral Valve Stenosis. After reviewing everything, her cardiologist felt she was okay for now with the heart issue and recommended getting her back fixed before addressing the mitral valve. She is only 38 years old, but she is in terrible shape right now. Her posture is almost a 45-degree angle and she has lost 4 inches in height since the rod broke. She has been a stay at home mom since our son was born with Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome and had three open heart surgeries before he was two years old. He is now 13, but has Autism and is completely non-verbal. It's been a struggle for her, but she puts him ahead of her struggles on a daily basis. The top picture below was taken in 2014 right after the rod broke, and the bottom picture was taken last month when we went back to Barnes Jewish for a surgery consultation. Surgery is scheduled for August 20th, a week from today but she has to have some tests done this week prior to surgery. She is nervous and scared, but at the same time so ready to get a piece of her life back.

Thanks,
Jody

     

[dejake]

God bless your family.  Prayers for your wife and for the Lord to guide the surgeon.

[hush]

Strength and peace for your wife and your family. 

[NCL]

Good thoughts and prayers to you and your wife

[tracker#1]

Prayers for your family..may you all have strength

[bobk]

Prayers for your family.

[daddyduke]

Praying for wife and family.

[Spitten and drummen]

Praying for your wife and family Jody. Yall hang in there buddy. God will see here through.

[fishr64]

Thoughts and prayers to your wife and family. Be strong and keep the faith!

[Double B]

Praying for you all.

[KYHeadhunter02]

I couldn't imagine living life in pain. Praying for her recovery!

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[Turkeytider]

Oh man !! Prayers for sure !

[oakraidia]

Prayers sent.

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[monty690]

Prayers sent.

[guesswho]