The bad and scary news  – Michael had a heart attack resulting in emergency open heart surgery to replace his aortic valve……  The good news – the attack happened in the hospital bed surrounded by a great medical team who took really good care of him.

A little back story of what happened. These are my words – it was all kind of blur and the doctors used terms that I didn’t quite understand but this is how I remember and understand how things happened:

Michael hadn’t been feeling well for a few weeks. One of the issues was his right foot swelling. It was red, tender to the touch, and he could hardly walk on it. He thought he had tweaked it when he got down in the engine room so we dismissed it. But when his right foot healed his left foot became swollen, which didn’t make any sense. He started having violent chills then a fever and was exhausted all the time, so we decided to go to urgent care here in Stuart, Florida. On Tuesday (4/16) we went to an Urgent Care facility about a block away from the boat. The Physician’s Assistant (PA) was knowledgeable and very thorough. He told us it could be the result of several things and, rather than just prescribing antibiotics, suggested we get some tests done. He sent us for x-rays, a sonogram and bloodwork and made a follow up appointment for Friday (4/19) morning.

At the follow up appointment we reviewed the test results with the PA and he noticed a couple of items that were of concern– Michael’s D-Dimer was high which could be a sign of clotting. He also noted that his blood levels were considerably low. His comment to us was that this is “above my pay grade” and recommended checking into the ER immediately. We decided to take his advice. We were able to move the boat off the mooring and into a slip in the same marina and headed for the ER that afternoon (Friday).

Once in the ER they ran more tests including scans of the lungs and heart to check for clots and didn’t find anything but decided to keep him overnight. Then on Saturday (4/20) afternoon, in the hospital bed, he had a heart attack. Fortunately, they were able to stabilize him. The cardiologist used a scope to look at his arteries. They found a clot in the central artery and were able to break it up and remove most of it. We were also advised us that he noticed something strange on his aortic valve. On Monday (4/22) he ordered a scope to look at the valve and discovered there was either an infection or clot. Monday afternoon a surgical team of five appeared at the foot of his bed and advised us they highly recommended replacing his aortic valve immediately as it was “sluffing” off stuff and could be very dangerous. They wanted to do open heart surgery the next day (Tuesday) but since he had been on blood thinners they would need to wait an extra day and would schedule it for Wednesday (4/24) morning. Whoa!  We made a few phone calls to confirm what they were telling us and were advised to take their advice.

On Wednesday (4/24) at 9:10 Michael was taken back for a surgery that took five hours. The surgeon said it was pretty bad – they found an infection and a large abscess which they were able to remove. They also installed another aortic valve. The Doctor said the surgery went well and Michael was lucky that they found it when they did.

We feel very fortunate that we were in a place with a great medical facility and very lucky to have had such great medical care.

Michael was finally released on Tuesday (4/30). Halleluiah! Snooki, The Duke and I are very happy to have him home and he says he is very happy to be back. I spent Tuesday afternoon rounding up all his prescription meds and Ubered home with a basket full of drugs. Wednesday morning we received a dock cart full of meds and supplies for the IV he will be on. A traveling nurse came later in the morning to set up the IV and teach us how to administer it into his PICC Line.

Recovery will be slow, probably six weeks to eight weeks., so we will stay here at Sunset Bay Marina in Stuart Florida for at least a month. Then we plan to resume our Great Loop Adventure.

Probably won’t post much in the next few weeks because It will probably be pretty boring. But I will update you occasionally. Hugs!!!!