Rachel's Heart

As promised, more info.

Rachel has a tiny hole (actually it is a flap) in her heart. Our neuro-surgeon thinks the infection (strep) in Rachel's blood leaked through this tiny hole and instead of being filtered out in the pulmonary system, traveled directly to her brain and started to grow. This "flap" only opens when the pressure in the heart changes (i.e. coughing, straining, etc...). So the fact that this infection traveled through this "flap" is extremely rare. The odds are 1 in millions this would happen...but it did, according to our neuro-surgeon. So he wants this "flap" closed. The "flap" can be closed with minimal invasiveness by going through her leg with a catheter.

Our cardiologist (who would actually would do the procedure) does not think it is necessary. He states that we are only guessing that the infection traveled to her brain through this "flap," and he only likes to work with facts. If Rachel got the infection from the dentist than the infection could have traveled right to her brain from the mouth, so the "flap" is irrelevant. Also, Rachel has probably had infections in her blood before and they have never gotten to her brain. He thinks that the chances of this happening again are so rare that the risks of the procedure are not worth it (however, the risks are minimal, 1% chance of a stroke).

This week we sought out a third opinion and visited with a cardiac surgeon. He understood both arguments and basically stayed right in the middle. He explained that a surgeon’s mentality is to "fix" things. However, he admitted that the cardiologist made some great points. He did say that this was a decision we did not have to make anytime soon. Eventually, he said that he would defer to the cardiologist since he is the one that would actually do the procedure and understands the risks.

So, we still do not know what we will do. We are going to see all three doctors again to make sure they all are still thinking the same thing. We will then see how we feel and spend time in prayer. The good news is that this is not something we need to decide on tomorrow.

Please keep Rachel in your prayers as she needs to have peace of mind about this situation.

Rachel Update

Rachel and I were at Henry Ford yesterday visiting with a heart surgeon. She is also starting drivers rehab. It's just me and Abbey tonight (Rachel's out with friends doing some "Pepperdine shopping") and she is pulling at my shorts wanting to play. I will do my best to give a complete update about the Henry Ford visit soon!

Good Friday

Rachel and I were invited to a Good Friday service at a local community church (Kensington) on Friday night. We both really enjoyed it. The service consisted of praise and worship, communion and clips of Mel Gibson's movie. No matter how many times you hear the message; the story of Jesus is OVERWHELMING!

I remember taking my entire b-ball team at ACU to see the movie when it first came out. After the movie I drove home with my center (6"8 250 lbs. from Germany) he had been in the German military and was only a few years younger than me. He was a GREAT guy but claimed to be an agnostic. The car ride home was dead silent and just before I pulled up to his apartment to drop him off he said, "Coach do you really think one man did all that?" Hard to believe isn't it. However, the old hymn says is so well; "But we believe that angels said, why seek the living with the dead, but we believe..."

Weekend with Randy

I spent last weekend in Indianapolis with Randy Harris. We spent some time planning for our Pepperdine class, connected with people at Westlake C of C and saw a few basketball games. I'm excited for our class. Randy has done a great job of laying it out and sorting through his theological reflections. It is a three day class. I will begin each class session by retelling a section of Rachel's story and Randy will then offer theological reflections trying to get us to think about what God may or may not have been doing. In between the two talks each day, Randy will interview Rachel and I, asking us to reflect on our experiences, feelings, etc...
The class is titled; "When Your Wife has 30 Minutes To Live: Searching For A God We Cannot See."

I have known Randy as teacher, mentor, counselor and even as assistant coach for one game!...but lately just as a good friend.