Dave always knew he had a heart murmur. He found it in college. He also knew his family has a history of heart conditions. So, when he turned 40 I urged him to get his heart checked. Last October, Dave was raking leaves and he felt something was "off". He went to the heart clinic. They referred him right away to the cardiac team. They did more tests and an echocardiogram. They found that he needed a new valve & possible a new aortic root. The doctor said surgery should happen within the next year. Left untreated, he was sure to have a heart attack by 50. The surgery was scheduled for March 4th. Because this was a genetic condition, the doctor suggested we get our children checked. We explained that our children are adopted. But, it is amazing that Liam has the same genetic disorder in his valve.
March 4th - They took Dave back at about 7:30am. It took about an hour to start surgery. He got out of surgery around 2pm. I wasn't able to go back to see him until after 4pm. It was long day of waiting and praying. When I finally got back to see him, they were monitoring his vitals and giving him blood transfusions. They removed his breathing tube before I left for the night.
