Todd and Heart cont... 9-20-11

Since I last posted about this deteriorating situation, Todd has been in and out of University of Michigan's renowned cardiac center several times. He has driven on errands close to his home while having chest pains and worse. His mitral valve has been leaking for some time. It only controls the flow of blood between the hearts two main chambers, thus how necessary could it be, anyway? The surgeons at U of M were hemming and hawing. They all agreed that Todd needed a quadruple bypass and a couple of valves, but just kept inserting stents and performing tests...lots of tests. In the meantime, walking across the room was becoming a challenge for Todd. His breathing was becoming more laborious, and instead of taking a dose of nitro once a day for his chest pains, he was taking SEVEN or EIGHT. But Todd wasn't out of plays yet. He had been researching a cutting edge technology at the Cleveland Clinic. It involved placing a new aortic valve into the heart through an artery. Since his current valve was calcified and just "fapping in the breeze," the new proceedure could only leave him better off...the plan being to make his heart a little more efficient and a little stronger. After some cajoling, Cleveland Clinic agreed to accept Todd as a patient! On a Saturday afternoon, a medical chopper landed at U of M and they stowed Todd aboard. The flight to Cleveland was uneventful. He texted me upon his arrival, and I congratulated him on making it. I also suggested that since he had the rest of the weekend, perhaps he could take a tour of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He could no longer talk, but texted back that he would find a way to ask.  To be cont...