To Sara:
Your acquaintance has had almost two years added to her life from the very complicated cardiac surgery in early 2010. Her family was given a very precious gift then.
Your recent update was sad news indeed, but perhaps she can recover from this event as well. Please keep us updated.
~VOW
It would be wonderful to see this situation turn around for her again, VOW. Apparently her recent circumstances were enough to justify an upward move on the heart transplant list, so hopefully it will happen in time.
Yes, she did get an extra 2 years of life, and for that, everyone is extremely grateful. Someone in her condition would have died quickly if this had played out 20 years ago.
She’s lost vision in one eye, and movement on one side of her body as a result of last week’s stroke. Also, the ongoing infection in her LVAD lines has unfortunately caused her to be removed from the transplant list.
Not good.
So sorry. I’ve been following this thread and remember it from the original posting. I’ve been hoping for a good outcome. Hopefully there will still be some quality of life for her, but I can imagine being removed from the transplant list is not a good sign, a bit demoralizing at least. I hope she can find some comfort this NYE and in the year to come.
She has passed away.
The funeral is tomorrow.
So sorry to hear that, Sara.
I’m having open heart surgery (aortic valve replacement) next month, and this thread scares the hell out of me.
Also sorry for the loss. 
And not to hijack, but…
Panache, I am an RN in a CVICU where I frequently care for patient at all stages in recovery from open heart surgery. I hope I can ease your mind a bit. First, the fact that you already know your surgery will be next month gives you a leg up on situations like the OP’s acquaintance–it’s not being performed emergently. Second, the person who has been followed in this thread for two years is an example of an incredibly rare outcome from the start. In six years, I have seen exactly one patient whose chest was still open from the OR, and she was a massive surgical risk pre-operatively.
Although the details of recovery vary after valve replacement and CABG–depending on a person’s age, risk factors, and motivation to recover–almost every ending with a planned surgery is happy.
So sorry, Sara. It’s right to be thankful for the two extra years the surgery gave her, but it must be hard not to be bitter about the many extra decades she should have had. My thoughts are with her family.
I’m not a nurse 
but a colleague of mine recently had a valve replacement, and was out of the hospital within 3-4 days. She’s been back at work since about a month after it happened, and has recovered beautifully.
Sarabellum1976, I’m sorry to hear of the young lady’s passing. The last few months must have been rough for her and her entire family.
It has been an enormous burden for the family to bear. She left one daughter, age 8, and a son age 16. Her husband has been working like a dog these past few years, 60-80 hours a week to keep the bills paid, surviving three rounds of layoffs, and her mother has been basically a de-facto third parent for the grandchildren - no small potatoes for someone in her 70s. The funeral was terribly sad, and is of course, yet another financial burden for the family.
Hopefully they can all start the process of healing, now. It’ll be a long road. My heart aches for the little girl who has lost her mother in all of this - I lost my own father to a heart attack when I was 8, so it hits close to home for me.