Pictures may be worth a thousand words, but they don’t share the complete tale. And, the complete tale might be a bit wordy, so a brief “Reader’s Digest” version….

1973. The newly-redesigned Monte Carlo was named Motor Trend Car Of The Year … and I was born. Coincidence? Fate? Ironic twist?

8:30a
1st update: they took Cort just a few minutes ago. He was in really good spirits (wanting to charge for his signature). Mom, Dad and I were in there when the surgical team was in there. The surgeon was very positive. We are heading to get a bite to eat.

9:45a
2nd update: They had a little trouble starting a line into an artery. Surgery began at 9:20.

11:35a
3rd update: Cort is now on the heart/lung machine and all is well.

2:08p
4th update: he wasn't completely on the heart/lung bypass until 12:15 - scar tissue slows down this process. The aortic valve is in place and they are grafting the aortic artery right now. I think the fact that they are grafting is indicative of them needing to connect the artery into the aortic arch, which prolongs the surgery. Things are going well. He will be in surgery for at least two more hours and that is probably when we will get the next update.

3:41p
5th update: he is off heart/lung bypass as of 3:15 and doing well - still a few more hours until they are done. At that time I think the surgeon himself will come talk to us (I hope).

4:51p
6th update: they are closing him up now and Dr. Russell should be coming out to talk to us when they are done

6:43p
7th update (last): The surgeon just left us. He sat with us for a good 30 minutes talking to us about the surgery. Cort should be moved to ICU within the hour.

They did not have to do anything with the aortic arch. the aneurism narrowed before the arch. the doctor used a maize (spelling?) to prevent future arrhythmia problems. his echo after the surgery looked good, and so do all of his numbers. They did not have to touch his pig's valve - everything looked good there. HIs lung function is also doing well, although there was a lot of scarring that adhered to the heart. The doctor used a cover over the conduit to make future heart surgeries a little easier to get in.

he was in surgery for approximately 8 hours. he was on the heart/lung bypass for about 3 hours. the procedure of placing the valve and the artery took about 2 hours and 20 minutes. it was a very large aneurism. the artery now is, and will always be, at 3.6cm.

They are going to wait until morning to wake him - they want him to be still through the night. around 4:30 tomorrow morning they will start to take him off the sedatives and they will try to get him off the ventilator as soon as possible. Eric and I will try to be back here at the hospital around 7:00 so that once he is awake he will see a familiar face (even if he won't remember). Mom and Dad will try to get here by around 10. They probably won't move him to a regular floor until Sunday or Monday.

When this valve does need to be replaced, technology now allows them to replace it through a catheter. Apparently the valve being replaced can stay in place as the new one takes over.

Thank you all for your prayers during this long day.

11/12 @ 9:08p
i tried posting earlier from the road, but it didn't take...Please Pray! around 5:30 this evening i left Cort. While he wasn't completely comfortable, he seemed ok. they had gotten him back into bed (after him sitting up a good portion of the day), and his nurse was watching his oxygen level closely because it was low. his platelet count was also low, even thought they had been giving him platelets since the the surgery. he was bleeding more than they wanted. his nurse was in contact with dr. russell.
as we were leaving the city around 7 (after having dinner with family), i called to check in. Cort's nurse said that he was ok, but that his platelet level was really low, and that he was bleeding too much, and that he had been become unresponsive for a short time. directly afterwards he was alert and communicating again. However, they are taking him back into surgery to find out exactly what is wrong and to clear out the bleeding around the incision site. when i talked to the nurse, he was already intubated.
Mom and Dad are already on their way back to the city, if not already there. The last they talked to Dr. Russell around 8 i think, and he assured them that what is going on is not life threatening. however, it is related to the fact that Cort has had so many surgeries, and that he has had so many blood transfusions.
I came all the way home with Eric and JJ to get JJ into bed tonight. friends are taking me back to the city tonight so that i can stay all night. I am hoping that i can convince mom and dad to go home once Cort is back out of surgery to get some rest...
Please pray for strength and healing for Cort...

11/12 @ 10:19p
The surgery is over already. Cort's platelet count was really low and there was a lot of oozing blood around the incision site - they drained about 3-4 liters from the incision site. They are giving him a special kind of blood to get his numbers up where they should be. He will be on the ventilator overnight again. They will keep him in icu through tomorrow. The Dr said that while this is a setback, he will be OK.

11/13 @ 10:07a
Dr Russell was in to see Cort about a half hour ago. The oozing blood was all from the incision and suture site. His heart and the valves look good. Dr said it is rare for a patient to have an uneventful 24 hours and then go back into surgery, but that Cort is doing Just fine now. They will continue to treat him aggressively for his low platelet count, but so far it appears that his bleeding is under control. Dr said that because of the amount of blood transfusions he has had over the years, his body has built antibodies that attack foreign blood, so it takes more to find blood that his body will accept. He should be coming off the vent in the next hour as long as he makes the effort to take deeper breaths.

11/13 @ 11:46a
I am home now. Mom texted at 11 and said that Cort is off the ventilator. The do have him on an oxygen mask for the humidity to help loosen mucus. he is using a suction tube to help get mucus out. he is communicating well, and seems to be in better spirits. the last time Dr. Russell was in (just before i left), he said that they want to keep him resting in bed all day today. tomorrow they will work on getting him up in the chair.