Fitzgerald Family

Monty does not need bowel surgery. His obstruction is gone. Praise the Lord! We talked with the doctor. He feels that Monty is making progress even with all obstacles that he has had. He still has a ways to go to get his heart rate and blood pressure regulated. Please pray that the kidneys, liver, strep infection, and digestive system will no longer be an issue. All of these things have delayed the recovery process. He needs to get all of the setbacks behind him so that he can begin to work on regaining his strength and increasing activity while keeping his heart rate and blood pressure in a safe range. Thanks for praying so diligently for the obstruction to be dissolved. Today is going to be a good day - I am claiming it in Jesus' name!

Monty had an x-ray a little bit ago to see if the blockage has been reduced or eliminated. We are still waiting to hear the results. The heart surgeon said that he is making progress even though he has had all of these obstacles along the way. Regardless of what the lab reports and test show, I can see a difference in him today. When I woke up from a night of much needed sleep, Monty was watching tv. He had not even turned it on until today. That was a good sign for me. He also asked to use my laptop for a couple of minutes. The nurse said that would be good arm exercise for him. He is at least getting interested in what is going on around him, and that alone is a praise. I'll pass on the word about the obstruction as soon as I hear. Please continue to pray that the obstruction is gone. Thank you all so much for the prayers, comments, emails, calls, and visits. They are greatly appreciated.

This evening Monty had a CT scan because his stomach was extrememly distorted. He was vomiting bile, and his white count was 34,000. The CT scan revealed that he has an obstructed bowel. The doctor will reevaluate it in the morning and decide on a plan of action. PLEASE PRAY THAT THE BOWEL OBSTRUCTION RESOLVES ITSELF IMMEDIATELY! I don't think I can hear the word surgery again. Pray please.

Monty had a very rough night last night. Please pray that all of these issues would be resolved quickly. The positive part is that the heart surgeon came in this morning and said that his heart looks good. The down side is that Monty is having some major intestinal issues. He is having a series of x-rays this morning to check for blockages in the intestines. He really hasn't been able to eat since surgery. His stomach continued to swell and he began vomiting bile. I am sorry if this is too much information. Disgusting. Needless to say I did not want breakfast today. He had a tube inserted into his nose that goes down to his stomach to keep the bile suctioned out. Please pray that Monty would get some sleep today and that intestines begin working properly NOW. I will post again after the x-rays are complete and we know for sure what is going on.

Monty had physical therapy today and within a couple of minutes his heart rate was 160. His blood pressure was also elevated. He had to get new medicine for that. Hopefully they will get this under control. It was a tense few minutes watching the doctor and nurses pump him full of medicine to get his rates down. They also began him on coumadin today. That is the blood thinner that he will be on from now on. It will be a process to get the dosage regulated. Please pray that his heart rate and blood pressure stay in a safe range while increasing his activity.

Last night was Monty's first night out of ICU. I think things went well. I don't know for sure because I slept a good part of the night. I was tired. I did wake up several times when he was getting respiratory therapy and having blood drawn. He also got his sheets changed and had to be weighed in the middle of the night. The on call surgeon came around. He was great about explaining everything that has happened this week and what we can expect for the next few weeks. Monty will have his chest tubes removed shortly. The doctor is also hopeful that the liver issues will be resolved over the next couple of days. His liver enzymes are extremely high, but his functions are almost normal. Monty's white count is 31,000. The doctor said that Monty looks great for someone who went through two heart surgeries and cardiac arrest just three days ago. Monty does not have a fever, so the doctor does not believe that the elevated white count is from the strep infection. Monty is quite excited that he can have solid food for lunch. I think we may have gotten the good news that we wanted for today. I can't be sure because we will see three more doctors at some point today. Because their focuses are on different things, their perspectives are often different.

The surgeon told me this morning that he wanted Monty to remain in ICU until Sunday. We had a lengthy conversation about the kidneys, liver, strep in the heart and so on. About an hour ago Monty was moved into a room. I am not sure that this is what the surgeon intended to happen, so I am a little nervous. He does have a heart monitor in the pocket of his gown, so that helps me to worry less. The physician assistant and cardiologist made the decision to move him today. The physician assistant is the one that worked on Monty when he coded on Tuesday. She said that she wanted the girls to have a good weekend, so she pulled some strings and got us a nice room. We got the "executive suite" on the 4th floor. It has an area about the size of a normal hospital room for Monty and then a very large room for the family. It has 2 couches, 4 chairs, and a big screen tv. It will definitely be a better placce for me to sleep than the floor of the ICU waiting room. Please continue to pray that the strep infection in the heart is eliminated quickly and that the liver enzymes and white count go down today. We are hoping for good news tomorrow!

Edit 11:45 The surgeon came to the waiting room to visit with me. He said that Monty looks great today. He is hopeful that the liver issues will resolve themselves. He said the liver was most likely taking a hit from when Monty coded on Tuesday. The doctor said that he will probably be in ICU until Sunday and could possibly go home mid week.


We saw Monty's physician assistant, infectious disease doctor, physical therapist, and occupational therapist this morning. Things are a bit complicated today. The lab results for today show that Monty's liver enzymes and white cell count are very high today. The strep report shows that the strep in the heart valve is a very rare type that does not respond to common antibiotics. The particular medication that will treat the strep is extremely dangerous for the kidneys. His kidneys had already had issues earlier in the week. With all of the new concerns for today, it would be very easy to have a pity party, but I realize that we are still in a much better situation than we were Tuesday afternoon. I know God is still in control. Please pray that all of these issues would be resolved quickly.

Things have been quiet again this afternoon. Monty is very tired and has slept most of the day. He will be getting a picc line this evening for the antibiotics that he will be on for 4 weeks here and at home to fight the strep. The physician assistant came and got me from the waiting room a few minutes ago. She wanted me to see that they had gotten Monty out of bed and into a chair. He was asleep in the chair, but at least his blood pressure was stable enough to get him up. They are planning on having him walk a short distance tonight. He was able to have a few bites of soup and jello today.

Praise - Kidney function is normal today.
Prayer request - The biopsy of the aortic valve that was removed came back positive for strep. He will see an infectious disease doctor today and will receive high doses of antibiotics for the next 6 weeks. He said that strep is relatively common in leaky valves. Please pray that the strep is no longer present and that it will not be an issue.

The doctor is pleased with his heart rate and response to having the blood pressure medicine cut back. He does anticipate that Monty will have therapy today and should be out of ICU at some point tomorrow.

I was able to sleep 4 hours. I feel so much better. I woke up at 3:45 because the waiting room phone kept ringing. That is scary when you have someone in ICU. I jumped up from my pallet on the floor and went to the ICU entry door to call and check on Monty. His nurse said that she had just given him a bath and invited me in to see him for a few minutes. He was talking a little more and was more alert. The nurse has cut the blood pressure medicine down a lot. She expects that he will be completely off of it by the end of her shift at 7. He had to get a pint of blood yesterday, and it is possible that he will need another today. His numbers are looking better as far as heart rate. We are hoping for good results on his kidney function test today. Prayer request for the day - please pray that he is able to get up and move around. He missed his first day of therapy yesterday. The doctor said that the coding incident had set him back a couple of days. Thanks for praying and for following along.

Monty is still just chilling. He has been asleep most of the day. He is looking better each time we see him. We have the whole ICU waiting room to ourselves for now. We are watching the Rangers game and resting. I will update again tomorrow.

Fortunately things are calm here, so there isn't much to report. The girls got to see Monty at 12:30. He was able to visit with them for a few minutes. He gave them a much needed smile. They feel better about going back home for school tomorrow. Please pray that the girls stay in good spirits while they are away from us until Friday. It was hard to send them off, but I don't want them to miss too much school. I hope that the time goes by quickly for them. As for Monty, he looks better each time we see him. They are trying to reduce the amount of his blood pressure medicine. Once his blood pressure is stabilized without medicine, he will be able to get up. He finally got to eat jello this evening. I will see him again at 5.

I saw Monty at 9 and he was heavily medicated. He had been uncomfortable but had refused some pain medicine earlier this morning. When his cardiologist came around she insisted that he take the medicine. He was pretty much out of it. I was able to talk with the surgeon, cardiologist, kidney specialist, and the physician assistant. I got all of my questions answered about his high blood sugar, increased kidney functions, and low blood pressure. The doctors are very hopeful that the issues he is having today are a result of going into surgery twice and the code blue episode. They think his body is in stress and all of this should correct itself over the next couple of days. If not, there is the possibility that his kidneys were without blood when his heart stopped and may have been damaged. Please pray that it is stress related and everything will return to normal soon!

I am thankful that we had a very uneventful night. Monty's heart rate stayed consistent for the most part, but he still has some arythmia issues. His blood pressure is still very low. He is on medication to raise his blood pressure, but the medicine contains sugar. His sugar was 512 a little after midgnight. It is 315 at last check. I was able to stay in ICU with him all night. He has a very nice nurse and she asked me I wanted to stay. I did not sleep at all because his blood pressure monitor and his IV kept going off. He has 9 different things that he is getting through his IV, so it is no wonder something was always beeping. Please pray that his blood pressure stabilizes.

I was able to see Monty a little after 7. I talked the nurse into sneaking me in. Monty was fairly alert. He still has the ventilator so he is not able to speak yet. We saw him again at 9 and he was resting. The nurse expects that he will be off of the ventilator in a couple of hours. My poor girls have gone home for the evening. They are emotionally and physically drained. Please pray that Monty's blood pressure and heart rate are stable throughout the night and that he is able to rest. The next ICU visiting hours are at 9 in the morning. However, Monty has a very sweet nurse and she is going to let me set in there as long as I want during the night. She said that I can stay as long as I don't keep him from resting. I promised to stare at him quietly. Thanks for the many prayers that were sent on Monty's behalf. I can tell you that they were definitely answered. When things weren't looking so could my little Makayla said, "Mom can we just pray for him?" We did and so did many others. Thanks again.

We were able to see Monty again at 5. His vitals were stable and he was beginning to wake up. Once he is fully alert they will begin the process of cutting back the ventilator. He appears to be doing ok now. The next 48 hours are critical after this type of surgery. We are hoping that at 9 he will be able to open his eyes completely and talk to us. Please continue to pray over the next few days for healing and a speedy recovery. Also please pray for my poor girls because they have had a hard day. Their momma could use some prayers also. :)

I haven't updated in a while because things have been crazy. Things are starting to look up. Monty went code blue about an hour and a half ago. All is well now. Thank you Jesus! He was having blood pressure problems and arrythmia issues but hopefully that is under control now. Please continue to pray. We are a nervous wreck. We got to see him a few minutes ago and he looked good to have been through so much today. Pray. Pray. Please pray.

The hospital liason came out and said that they are finished repairing the problems and that Monty is off of bypass and everything is okay for now. Please continue to pray.

The doctor came out and said that surgery was over. Ten minutes later they called the waiting room and said that were taking him back to surgery. We don't really know what is going on yet. PLEASE PRAY.

We just got a call from the surgery nurse. We are beginning the 5th hour of surgery. She said that things are still going as expected.

Monty has been in surgery for two hours. The surgery will take approximately two more hours. His nurse just called and said that things are going well. We have been blessed with lots of love and many visitors who are waiting with us today. Please continue to pray that things go smoothly.

Surgery should begin any minute. Please pray that everything goes as expected. The surgery should take around 4 hours. We are visiting with very kind folks from our church as we wait. We should get an update in a couple of hours, and I will pass it on.

We are here. We got here about 5:15. The girls are still half asleep. Monty is fairly calm. I am a little antsy. The nurse came out and said that she will call him back at 6:00 to begin surgery preparations. I will update later.

We have been extremely busy the past few days trying to get everything done before Monty's surgery. I think we are ready. We really appreciate all of you that have called or emailed to offer words of encouragement and prayers. The surgery is scheduled to begin at 7:30 on Tuesday and is expected to last 3-4 hours. I will post updates here as often as I can.

Monty had his second consultation with the surgeon and got his pre-op done today. The doctor showed us the type of mechanical valve and aortic root that he will be using. He let us get the girls from the waiting room, and he explained it to them. They got to hold the valve and see the doctor that is actually doing the surgery. I think they feel better about everything now. Surgery will be at 7:30 on Tuesday.

Monty had to go the dentist to get some cavities fixed before he could have heart surgery. I never knew that teeth had the potential to cause an infection that would affect the heart. Anyway a few hours and a small fortune later, he was cleared for surgery. Note to self - I should have went to dental school.

Welcome to our blog! We will use this blog to post updates on the day of surgery and during the hospital stay.