Jill has her date....

[Christian]

November 1, 2005 at the Cleveland Clinic with Dr. Cosgrove. I'm sure she'll post over in the Pre Surgery forum after she's done making all of her phone calls.

[BAV Pt's daughter]

Best of luck to you... thats right behind my mom's (10/24) so we'll see each other in the post-surgery forum and compare success stories!!!! Keep busy, to make the time pass between now and then, and keep her healthy!!

[Mary]

Christian,
Don't forget to put Jill on the calendar! I just looked to see if you had done it yet, but I don't think you've had time.
The 1st is on a Tuesday, and I think that's a good day for surgery. The surgeon has recovered from the week-end and is nice and fresh for the week's upcoming cases.
Another positive--Jill should be feeling pretty good by the time Thanksgiving arrives. :)

[geebee]

So happy to hear that surgery will soon be behind you both and things will be even better. Now Jill will have the energy to chase after a toddler. :D Take care and we will get you through this.

[Karlynn]

November 1st! I'll start some good thoughts and prayers going for that day.

[Christina L]

is in good hands! Dr. Cosgrove is one of the best. The Cleveland Clinic also is quite the premiere heart facility - they run like a well oiled machine.

If I can give one piece of advice, it would be to ask for a private room right off the bat. It is a noisy place, as it is so busy, and I didn't get any rest until I got a private room. It is SO important to have rest after the surgery, so a private room is a must in my opinion.

It is almost two years post my mitral valve repair by Dr. Cosgove (11/06/03) and I am doing great.

God bless -
Christina L.

[Ross]

Jill has a date? She's leaving you? :( :D

I don't know if Toby is up to it. He's busy doing t.v. commercials promoting the new $200 million Cleveland Corridor. Yeap, that's right, seen him on the tube last night!

[momshell7]

Sending prayers and good thoughts to you and Jill. She will be in good hands at the Cleveland Clinic.

Keep us posted!!


Now on another note, Christian we need some new pictures of your little boy. Haven't seen any in awhile. :)

[Phyllis]

Wishing you both the best- she is in great hands at Clevland Clinic and we look forward to all good reports.

[Christian]

is in good hands! Dr. Cosgrove is one of the best. The Cleveland Clinic also is quite the premiere heart facility - they run like a well oiled machine.

If I can give one piece of advice, it would be to ask for a private room right off the bat. It is a noisy place, as it is so busy, and I didn't get any rest until I got a private room. It is SO important to have rest after the surgery, so a private room is a must in my opinion.

It is almost two years post my mitral valve repair by Dr. Cosgove (11/06/03) and I am doing great.

God bless -
Christina L.

How does one go about requesting a private room? Can we do that now?

Thanks for all of the positive vibes. We're both handling it well. I honestly think I fried the worry center of my brain during her pregnancy. Now I just feel numb, which isn't a bad thing. Hopefully we'll have a lot to be thankful for this Thanksgiving.

Please keep an eye out for Jill over in Pre-Surgery. I'm sure she'll have many questions.

[Christian]

Jill has a date? She's leaving you? :( :D

I don't know if Toby is up to it. He's busy doing t.v. commercials promoting the new $200 million Cleveland Corridor. Yeap, that's right, seen him on the tube last night!

Now would be a really bad time for Jill to leave her husband. :)

I get the impression he's winding down his surgical practice.

[Christina L]

I believe you could request a private room now, not sure. Also don't be afraid to tell the nurses that you would like the door closed to the hallway and not to be woken up every two hours for not-so-dire reasons like weighing you at 4 a.m.!!! That is only after your wife is completely stable - they can watch her monitor at the nurses station just fine.

They put a note on the outside of my door saying to not disturb. From that point on, after I got the private room, I recovered so much faster and the sleep (when I could sleep) was heavenly. Just not having all the noise was the best part.

I remember the first night post surgery I was in a room with another lady who had had heart surgery and was fast mending, up all the time, talking, and watching TV at all hours - I couldn't sleep and I honest to goodness thought I could go back to the hotel to sleep that night! I don't remember it, but my roommate said I was very nasty to the nurses - acting like a real b___tch. Well I don't even remember it - was out of it and obviously delusional from the medications, but yet my roommate was irritated with me for being so obnoxious!

If your wife can keep away from that kind of stress (roommates) post surgery, it will be the best thing for her.

I would go ahead and ask now. I know private rooms are hard to come by and I got lucky getting mine on such short notice.

Christina L

[Christian]

Now on another note, Christian we need some new pictures of your little boy. Haven't seen any in awhile. :)

Lets see if this works.

[Christian]

I would go ahead and ask now. I know private rooms are hard to come by and I got lucky getting mine on such short notice.

Christina L

Thank you for the advice. We'll put that on top of our "things to do" list.

[Christina L]

he is a gorgeous little boy. Look at those beautiful eyes!

Good luck with getting the private room. Believe me, speaking from experience, you will be glad you did this.

Christina L

[momshell7]

Thanks Christian!!

He is so adorable!! It's amazing how fast they grow. My little one started kindergarten this year :eek: My older one is in fourth grade :eek: :eek: Next year he will be 10 and that will really throw me for a loop.

[carista]

That has to be the CUTEST baby i've ever seen. What a doll!!!

[terryj]

Okay I am a grandmother with 9 beautiful grandchildren but that is the most adorable child I have ever seen. But, if my grandchildren ever heard I said so I will deny it til the end.

[Christian]

It's impossible for me to be objective, but he's certainly a great looking little boy. I've actually been stopped on the city streets at least a dozen times by people who "just have to get a closer look at those EYES." And he smiles at everyone -- he must know that they'll smile back. I'm very lucky to be his father.

[sylviayasgur]

hi christian,
haven't been here for the longest time...
what a beautiful baby! seems like yesterday that you and jill had him.

i was somewhat shocked to read that jill is going in for surgery.
yet, she is in the best of hands.
just wanted to wish you only good things and as everyone here has said, the waiting is the worst, but it will be behind you in no time.

glad to see you are in great spirits,
all the best, sylvia

[Lynlw]

Christian your son is beautiful. I know how it feels to be the one watching and worrying about someone you love go thru this, not my husband but son and since you have a baby I know you could imagine how that would be. so if you every need to vent or anything, I am usually hope so feel free to email me. I would call the insurance company to make sure about the private room too. also I would really recomend setting up a care page now, if you don't have some kind of family site. both carepage and caringbridge are free and it makes it so easy to give family and friend updates instead of getting tons of calls and it feels so good to read all the messages in the guestbook.plus it is a nice record to go back and reread since everything becomes a blurr. and heck it's a great place to show off more pics of your son :o) If you decide to set one up please share the links, you are all in my prayers. Lyn www.caringbridge.org/nj/justinw

[Christian]

Sylvia:

It came as a surprise to us too. We went to Cleveland in April to get clearance to try for Baby Number Two and they told us they weren't going to let us do it again until after the operation. Quite a surprise, since Jill had no complications with the pregnancy and her echo results really didn't change.

Lyn:

Thanks for the insurance reminder. We've requested the room but I suppose we better make sure it'll be paid for. And the carepage was another good idea. We'll do that too.

[Debrinha GT]

Christian and Jill, I'm sure you'll be able to have another child once Jill's fully recovered. I was given the ok by my cardio only three months after my third heart surgery (mitral valve replacement), remember I've written about my experience? Bruna's eight now and was diagonosed with mitral valve prolapse a few months ago, but the doctor told us there's nothing to worry about. I'll be taking her for an echo every year just to be on the safe side. Anyway, your wee boy is absolutely adorable! Who's going to look after him while Jill's in hospital and then during her recovery? Hope to hear from the two of you more often from now on! Take care!
Débora

[Lorraine]

Christian,

What a Beautiful, adorable little boy! Yes, you are lucky!

Strange, I had a private room and didn't even ask for one. I was glad I did though. My insurance did pay for it too. Jill will really want her rest, like Christina said.

I will keep Jill in my thoughts and prayers on Nov. 1st.

[Christian]

Who's going to look after him while Jill's in hospital and then during her recovery?

Me. :)

Here's Colin, mommy and daddy on his first birthday (our first annual costume party).

[Karlynn]

So why didn't you post one with your costumes on??? :D :D

Colin is such a cutie and I can tell that Mommy and Daddy have been enjoying every minute.

[BAV Pt's daughter]

Here's Colin, mommy and daddy on his first birthday (our first annual costume party).
He is so adorable!!!!

[momshell7]

What a cool tradtion you have started. Colin looks like such a happy boy!! Mom and Dad look very happy as well.

Thanks for sharing the pictures!!

Michelle