Prayer updates for Laetitia's heart surgery

Laetitia's heart surgery is scheduled for Thursday 22 September at Epworth Private Hospital in Richmond, Melbourne. We're going there because it's the only place in Australia where they offer robotic repair surgery. This will hopefully mean less trauma and therefore a quicker recovery than going through the front of the chest.

We know that God responds to the prayers of His people; we would love to have you praying for Laetitia. I will be posting updates about her progress through surgery and recovery to a blog I've set up called "Laetitia's Heart", at http://laetitias-heart.blogspot.com/. If you would like to receive these updates by email instead, you can do so from that blog page (or click here). You will receive a confirmation email address; respond as directed in that email, and you'll be subscribed.

My wife has a dodgy heart valve

This week we have been in Brisbane for some medical tests. It turns out that Laetitia has a dodgy heart: mitral valve prolapse with regurgitation. Her cardiologist has suggested that the severity of her situation is on the severe side of moderate, and that he “would be surprised” if she didn't need surgery sooner rather than later (in 5 years rather than 20). For the moment she will need annual checkups to keep track of her condition.

If I knew what to write next, I would write it. If I understood how I felt about it, I'd write about that. But I don't. Watch, wait and see, I guess. And trust God to provide what we need.

He has certainly provided well for us so far. Not only do we have access to a great cardiologist (he was Laetitia's father's cardio too, for the same condition), we also know three people who have recently (i.e. in the last two years) had open heart surgery, two of them for mitral valve issues. So we have some idea now of what to expect.

Bill & Bev Bailey

Laetitia's parents came to stay with us for a few days. They're doing a driving holiday; they put their car on the train from Brisbane to Cairns, then driving back to Brisbane in stages. The fact that they went to Cooktown is beside the point! (Check a map if you're confused by that comment.)

These photos are from the breakwater at Mackay Harbour.

Last year, laetitia's father Bill had heart surgery. It took him a while to recover. It was really good to see him again. I've seen him a few times since then, and each time he's looking more spritely and steadier on his feet.

Bill Bailey out of hospital after 5½ weeks!

Laetitia writes:

Dad is out of hospital (got out Mon 15 Oct). He and Mum have been staying with Mum's mum for the last week or so because her bathroom was remodelled last year so there's no lip to the shower.

He has to go up to the hospital for things like rehab, chest x-ray… Some things can be done by a visiting nurse—he had his throat dressing (from the tracheostomy) changed on Monday and it is healing well—that may be the last dressing change. He had a blood test on Tuesday but they didn't have those results when I talked to Mum about him yesterday.

The lower part of his lung (left?) is still collapsed so he has to do some deep breathing exercises. He's on about 4 different drugs including Warfarin and fluid reduction tablets. His fluid reduction tablet morning dose was increased to two (from one) because his feet are swollen in the morning. I suspect this is to do with both legs having been opened to get a suitable vein for the bypass.

On the whole he is on the mend and reasonably cheery—who wouldn't be at simply being out of hospital after 5.5 weeks! :-)

[Note from Ian: For those who don't know, Laetitia's dad went into hospital on 5 September for a heart valve replacement.]