Annb
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Speaking to my brother this evening and he was telling me just what his operation will involve. It's absolutely horrific and terrifying - to me anyway.
The surgery is expected to last about 14 hours and is in 3 parts - 1 to replace the aortic heart valve, 2 to deal with the aorta itself (not sure what is to be done there) and 3 his temperature has to be reduced to about 15 degrees and his heart stopped along with the heart lung machine being stopped for about 40 minutes while they work on the part of the aorta that actually feeds into the heart. At that temperature, his brain and organs won't suffer from oxygen deprivation. After the surgery he will be kept in an induced coma for 3 or 4 days. Sounds awful. But they've done it before and presumably been successful. We live in hope (and keep on praying).
The surgery is expected to last about 14 hours and is in 3 parts - 1 to replace the aortic heart valve, 2 to deal with the aorta itself (not sure what is to be done there) and 3 his temperature has to be reduced to about 15 degrees and his heart stopped along with the heart lung machine being stopped for about 40 minutes while they work on the part of the aorta that actually feeds into the heart. At that temperature, his brain and organs won't suffer from oxygen deprivation. After the surgery he will be kept in an induced coma for 3 or 4 days. Sounds awful. But they've done it before and presumably been successful. We live in hope (and keep on praying).