Thank you all so much for your prayers. Last Tuesday, the angiogram went well with just a headache from the medicine. The nurse was surprised to hear we were from out of state, because they typically only take 1 maybe 2 people at the end of the year and said we must be really lucky, but we know it was answered prayers. The equipment here was much more advanced than the one in Brazil (which said he had a mild superficial bridge of about 25mm) here it showed it was about 35mm long and phase 2 depth. Wednesday, he was able to walk about 5 minutes for the stress test and showed plenty of data showing the stress on his heart.
Thursday his heart cath showed that his bridge went even deeper into the heart muscle than thought and at a sharp angle down then drastically back up, which was causing major pinching of the artery. The test was pretty rough on Joe, but he recovered quickly thankfully. Friday morning the Dr. called and said the fact that he didn’t have any build up in his arteries is the only reason he’s still alive right now with the severity of the pinching, but we know that God has been good to us and kept him safe.
Today, we were at the hospital for 7 hours meeting with the surgeon, nurses, getting pre-op testing and they put in 2 ports in his spine (similar to an epidural) for numbing meds. The surgeon said the full sternotomy was going to be the best option and he will plan on doing it off pump with the pump on stand-by just in case. He believes everything looks very good for surgery and recovery for Joe. He said most of his patients are back to 80% functioning at 6 months and then another year or so to get back to a new normal. As long as there are no unforeseen complications, he said we could be back to Brazil by the end of the year and this is what we are praying for, Lord willing.
Prayer Requests
Joe- surgery is tomorrow 5/10 -5am arrival for prep 7am surgery- 3-4 hours
Pray for pain management, recovery, patience – he is on complete restriction 2 months, 1 month assisted rehab, then home rehab
Erin- stress management, driving, patience
Hi Joe and Erin,
We are praying for you from the Home Office here in Florida. Trust the surgery went well and Joe is not in too much pain. Praying for a good result and good recovery. Praying for you too Erin and growing confidence in driving. God has you, He is for you!
Continuing to pray for you all and a quick recovery for Joe. Love and Prayers from Roman Family in El Paso, TX (Carlos, Elsa Roman, and girls-Natalia, Catalina, and Arianna)
Praying for you both that the surgery went well and the recovery is smooth. God bless you!🙏❤️
Hi Joe and Erin, We are praying for Joe as he has surgery and will be praying for him during his post-op recovery. Stephen Smith for the Member Services Team
Praying for you all🙏