Today Cheryl had her surgery. As of 3:00 PM she was awake, in her bed comfortably and was able to get the breathing tube out. Getting out the breathing tube is a very important step because this indicates that the patient is awake enough after the anesthesia and also the breathing tube can be very uncomfortable. Tonight Cheryl will be staying in the Cardio Thoracic Intensive Care Unit. They will get her up into a chair tomorrow morning around 5 AM if everything progresses according to plan. It will then be her surgeon’s decision to transfer her up to our step-down floor 4400 tomorrow morning. There she will stay a few days and recover some more. Once on 4400 another person will be able to follow up with her and make comments on here.

Today some of the staff from the Cardio Thoracic Intensive Care Unit was able to meet Cheryl and start to prepare for tomorrow. Currently Cheryl is on 4400 and is the first surgery in the morning. This means that she will be taken to the operating room around 6:40 AM tomorrow 1/27/09. Her surgery will begin around 7:30 and will last anywhere from 2-3 hours. After her surgery she will come directly to our unit. We explained this to Cheryl and she is aware that she will have a breathing tube in. Cheryl told us that she was able to recognize some of the nurses from pictures that we sent. Also, she stated that she noticed the room she was in from pictures. She said that she wanted to turn around in North Carolina when they ran into some problems as the previous post said; however, she said that she is excited and glad she made it and is ready for surgery. Tomorrow I will make a post to update how she is doing after surgery.

Cheryl and Leona are here and through day 1 of fixing Cheryl's valve. Their trip to Rochester was a little more exciting than desired as customs took longer than expected and they ended up staying in the night in Charlotte. But due to the generous assistance of a gentleman at the US Airways ticket counter and Cindy's neice Kelly, our two visitors were able to get a good night's rest before flying again on Sunday.

We had a big welcome party meet them at the airport including: Barbara, Kara, Bob, Maureen, Ralph, Cindy, and Leah. After getting them settled into their apartment behind Rochester General Hospital, Cindy and Leah gave brought them over to the hospital to start the paperwork with Dr. Gacioch. They are working on getting acclimated to the biting cold we're currently experiencing. Even with the sun out yesterday, it was maybe 10 degrees. It's a good thing we've received the donations of many layers!

Monday began early with a pick up at 6:45am to begin the registration at the hospital. After some more paperwork and waiting, Cheryl became an official patient with her gown, IV and all. And then today's procedure in the cath lab by Dr. Gacioch was pretty painless according to Cheryl. She just wasn't thrilled with the idea of having to lay flat for 4 hours afterwards to let the incision heal. And finally at 2pm they let her have something to eat! Cheryl's been doing great, she even received a surprise visit from the RGH's President, Mark Clement to wish her well tomorrow. Fortuantely there was nothing else left on the agenda for today and she could finally just rest. And she better get it because tomorrow starts early again!

Hello my name is Tony and I am one of the nurses in the Cardio Thoracic Intensive Care Unit at Rochester General Hospital. I was asked to make some comments on our unit. We are a twelve bed unit consisting of many nurses, nurse manager; midlevels consisting of nurse practitioners and physician assistants; patient care technicians; respiratory therapists; house keeping; secretaries and our cardio thoracic surgeons. The staff consists of experienced nurses and many have been at our unit for twenty and thirty years. This year again we were listed on the Thomson Reuters list as one of the top 100 heart programs in the country. It has been the eighth time that we have been nominated for this honor. Our hospital has been nominated again this year as a Magnet Designated Hospital. We are one of approximately 120 hospitals or 2% of the hospitals nation wide to demonstrate this excellent level of nursing care. At the moment we are lucky enough to have a new unit being build that will be opening late 2009 early 2010. We are affiliated with the Cleveland Heart Clinic which is one of the top, if not the top heart clinic in the country. After surgery, Cheryl will be coming from the operating room directly to our unit. We are all excited and ready to give the best cardiac care possible.

Here are Cheryl and her children.  In Cheryl's hand in a beautiful scrapbook put together by the CTICU at Rochester General introducing Cheryl to Rochester, the hospital, and all the doctors and nurses she will meet.

A week from tomorrow (Jan 24th) InterVol is going to have a very special guest visit us.  Ms. Cheryl Ritchie will be coming to Rochester, NY from Belize.  We first met Cheryl on the VMP (Volunteer Medical Professionals) trip to Belize in March 2008.  She walked in to see the cardiologist, Dr. Gerry Gacioch, and looked him straight in the eye and begged him to please help her.  In her hand she carried a CD from Belize City verifying that she had a very debilitating condition called mitral stenosis.

At 32-years-old Cheryl is often short of breath which makes it difficult for a young mother to keep up with her 6 children all under the age of 17.  Mitral stenosis is a narrowing of the mitral valve which limits the amount of blood flow from her heart into her body.  As a child Cheryl had rheumatic fever, an illness easily treated with penicillin and nearly eradicated from the United States since 1950, but a common childhood disease in third world countries.  The rheumatic fever, left untreated led to this condition which is only getting worse.  As the condition is progressing, she only has a few year left for a woman who is otherwise healthy.  In the poor country of Belize her only hope for treatment is to go to Guatemala, but even then she would need a large sum of cash, something difficult to come by.

This is where InterVol and Rochester General come in.  Dr. Gacioch made a promise in March to Cheryl that he would find a way to help her.  And her dream is coming true in a week.  Next Saturday Cheryl, accompanied by her mother, will come to Rochester and have surgery at one of the top heart hospitals in the country.  The entire community is behind her trip and helping her get the treatment she needs.  The hospital is donating all the surgery, physicians time, and equipment needed.  They also have on campus apartments in which Cheryl and her mother will be staying.  Students from The Harley School will stock the cupboards in the apartment and prepare meals for them.  Local nurses are providing winter clothes for these women who have definitely never experienced this cold we've been having.  And the plane tickets have been covered by the Webster Kiwanis Club and the Monroe Country Mites Travel Hockey Team.

So Saturday Cheryl joins us in Rochester.  She will only been in the hospital for a weeks time.  Since she is a beautifully healthy woman, she will make a quick recovery.  After which she will stay in Rochester for 2 additional weeks so she can follow up with the doctors.  And then on February 14th, Valentine's Day, Cheryl outfitted with a new lease on life will return to the loves of her life, her children: Glen, Albert, Christy, Marisa, Clarissa, and Sherilee.

We want to thank everyone who has made this miracle for Cheryl possible!