December 12, 2010

Wow! I have not been keeping up with my posts. Here are the last three e-mails I sent out regarding Jaime's health. Things are looking up. We'll be heading to Cleveland in February!

DECEMBER 10, 2010
Yay! We just heard from the Cleveland Clinic. Jaime is scheduled for surgery on Thursday, February 10, but he will have to check into the hospital on the 4th so they can put him on an IV when they take him off his Plavix and other meds. Dr. Bruce Lytle, Chairman of the Heart and Vascular Institute of the Cleveland Clinic, will perform the surgery, but he will do a catheterization beforehand so that he'll have an up-to-date look at Jaime's heart and environs. After the catheterization, we will find out what the risks of the surgery will be so that Jaime can make his final decision on whether to go ahead with the procedure or not.

Thank you for your ongoing support, and I'll keep you posted!

Love, Jane


DECEMBER 9, 2010
Dear friends and family,

I apologize for keeping everyone hanging – and I truly appreciate the e-mails and moral support from all of you – but we are still waiting…and waiting…and waiting. The medical secretary to Dr. Bruce Lytle, Chairman of the Heart and Vascular Institute at the Cleveland Clinic, called us on November 26, requesting information on Jaime’s 1993 bypass procedure, which I was happy to forward to her. She said that the doctor was out of the office but would return on the following Wednesday. We have heard nothing since then. In the meantime, Jaime had an appointment this past Monday with his local cardiologist who asked Jaime for the name and phone number of the doctor at the Cleveland Clinic so that he could hopefully expedite matters. But…. we are still waiting! In the meantime, I am happy to report that Jaime’s numbers are good: blood pressure, cholesterol, etc., and the doctor even told Jaime he could resume moderate exercise, including recreational bike riding. Yay! Of course, it’s been too dang cold to ride bikes the past few days, but at least Jaime seems to be making progress, and for this we are thankful!!!

And speaking of being thankful, we enjoyed a lovely Thanksgiving day with good friends Brenda and Phil and look forward to spending more time with them during the upcoming holidays. Since I am now assuming we won’t be heading to Cleveland until early next year, I wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. I will, of course, let you know if we hear anything from Cleveland.

Cheers!
Jane


NOVEMBER 21, 2010
Dear friends and family,

Sorry for the long silence, but Jaime and I have been busy trying to figure out our next step. Actually, I was waiting to send an update after we heard from the Cleveland Clinic with a date for the consultation, but so far, no word. We had thought his records were being sent there several weeks ago, but apparently, they were just sent last week. Anyway, following is a note I posted on Facebook a couple weeks ago. Nothing has changed since then.

(November 9, 2010): It appears Jaime’s LVEF (left ventricle evacuation fraction) is not what we thought. The most recent echocardiograms indicate an LVEF of 35% - which is about what it was when Jaime had the first echo in September. This is not good. Apparently, the 50% result (which is considered “normal”) reported when he was in the hospital during his pneumonia bout was in error. So, we are trying to move up our trip to Cleveland to consult with the heart specialists there. In the meantime, Jaime is feeling well (pneumonia is all gone, thank goodness!), and he has been taking short walks – gradually lengthening the distance each day. Jaime is not sure he will go through with any more procedures (if there ARE any – which we won’t know until we get to Cleveland), but his frame of mind is good, and we are making the most of each day. Hopefully, we will know soon when we will be heading north to Ohio. Thank you all, so much, for the messages and support. I apologize for not getting back to you personally, but I hope to soon.

Love, Jane