Date for surgery

[stormrev]

Hi friends

I'm heading in to the Austin hospital today for pre-op and then for Ross Procedure surgery early Wedneday morning (7 am Australian time). After only three months of waiting the day has finally arrived and I'm actually looking forward to getting this over and done with and be able to get back to a more normal lifestyle - eventually!

Thanks for all the support and encouragement in recent times - you have provided some companionship and support along the way and I look forward to joing those on the other side of the mountain!

Love and blessings

Grant (aka in another life "The Faster Pastor")

 

[Bill Hall]

Grant - Good luck with the surgery. I am thinking you will be back on your feet by 7 AM on Friday. Let us know how things go and how quickly you get better.

 

[Christina L]

Grant,

Best wishes for a successful surgery and a speedy recovery. You have a great attitude - that will get you FAR. Believe me, attitude is almost everything (besides the skill of a great surgeon). I am learning about the attitude thing as I go.

God bless and keep us posted as soon as you can on how well you ARE doing post surgery.

You will be in my prayers and thoughts. You are going to be just fine. Know that.

Christina L.

 

[KathyH]

Good Luck with your surgery. You will be in my thoughts and prayers. Please have someone post for you and let us know how you are doing.
KathyH

 

[Bryan B]

Grant,

Good luck with your surgery Wednesday. I'm having my Ross done 2 weeks from Wednesday and will be eager to hear how you're doing. I'm sure you will do fine and I'll be thinking about you!

 

[catwoman]

Grant:

You and your family will be in my prayers for a smooth surgery and quick recovery.

 

[tommy]

Grant,

Wow, not much time for us to fuss over you. Our prayers will be with you. Looking forward to hearing from you on the other side of the mountain.

 

[RunMartin]

Hi Grant,
Good luck and hope to hear from you soon.

Martin

 

[SJJ]

Grant,
So glad you're almost on the other side of your surgery. I'll keep you and your family in my thoughts. Like you, I was almost excited as my surgery approached so I could get it behind me......and before I knew it, it was all over! We'll all being waiting to hear, so have someone post for you if they can.
Sue

 

[Abbanabba]

Hi Grant,

Have been in Melbourne this week and was thinking of you just today, wondering how things were going. Clearly all has been "full steam ahead"!!. I'm so glad you made it off the waiting list as soon as you did.

I hope everything goes well for you and I'll be adding my positive thoughts and best wishes to everyone else's.

All the best for tomorrow
Anna : )

 

[Nancy]

Hi Grant-

Best wishes for a highly successful surgery. We'll all be waiting to hear how things went.

Gpd Bless.

 

[Raverlaw]

Grant,

When this is all over you'll be the "even faster Pastor".

Good luck and God bless. My thoughts and prayers are with you and your family.

 

[stormrev]

Grant's Surgery

Grant's Surgery

Sorry there has not been an update on Grant sooner....

Grant had his valve-replacement surgery on Wednesday between 7am and 4pm at the Austin Hosptial in Melbourne, Australia. He was able to have the Ross procedure done, which was really good. Part of his aorta was also replaced with synthetic tubing as well.

The surgeon has told us his valve and the human donor valve were both clean fits. But due to having to replace part of the aorta, the heart/lung machine had to be connected to the artery near the groin....

Once he came to, there was a pain in his lower right leg. What had occured was that the muscle inside the sheath got damaged due to the length of time the heart/lung machine was connected to the groin. So he had to have a 1.2 hour operation, in which they slit the sheath to release the pressure of the inflammation. This is called a fasciotomy.

He still in a fair bit of pain due to this. Over the next two days he will have to have more surgery to stitch up this wound, as currently it is left open to release the pressure....

So he is not feeling too well at the moment, as recovery is taking a lot longer than expected. This is making him feel low in spirits too.

We pray that recovery will speed up for him, as he had not improved much today.

He is hoping to be moved out of intensive care by Sunday, so he can watch the Melbourne Grand Prix!!!

With love

Amber (daughter) on behalf of the rest of the family

Cathy(wife), Brandon and Jonathan

 

[SJJ]

Thanks so much for giving us word regarding Grant's surgery. I'm sorry he's dealing with the leg unpleasantness on top of everything else and can only hope that gets resolved soon. Let him know that we're all pulling for him and are eager to hear that he's on his way home.
Sue

 

[Nancy]

Hi Amber and all the family-

I'm glad to hear that he's out of surgery. He's got a wound in a very ouchy area. It must be terrible. Remember that the body wants to heal everything, so this will have a healing period as well. All will eventually get better. One doesn't need this kind of thing on top of open heart surgery, but unfortunately, the end justifies the means in this case, and that was to fix his heart and his aorta, and thus get him out of harm's way.

I'm hoping for good pain meds for him, and that this will heal up quickly.

God Bless.

 

[Georgia]

Amber, thanks for posting.

Rev. Grant: I'm sorry you had such a painful complication. Who'd-a thunk that would bother you more than the sternotomy???

You're in all of our prayers; I hope you get out of the hospital ASAP and home with your family where you can relax and heal.

Congratulations on getting over the mountain; did you get the tag number on that truck? All my best wishes.

 

[RunMartin]

Hi Grant,

Good to hear you have made through your surgery even though it was not completely smooth. I am also hoping to watch the Grand Prix on Sunday. It is on at 3:00 am in England so I have to get up very early for it!, I try to watch as many of the Grand Prixs as I can each year.

I hope the rest of your recovery is smooth.

All the best

Martin

 

[bvdr]

Hi Grant,

I'm sorry you had a difficult time with the surgery but am glad that it is now behind you.

I pray that all goes well from now on. Don't get too excited watching the race!