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Hospital Witness 061411
My Open Heart Surgery - June 14-22, 2011

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My Open Heart Surgery
June 14, 2011 - June 22, 2011

Just a little background first.  Some of you may know that I have/had a heart condition called Hypertrophic Obstructive Cardiomyopathy.  It's a genetic condition that I could have either inherited or just happened to have gotten it while in the womb.  It causes the walls of the heart to thicken.  In my case, the heart is thickening to the point where the blood flow from my heart out to my body is being obstructed.  It was causing me to be fatigued, have shortness of breath, heart palpitations, dizziness, etc. 

I have been to heart specialists in Springfield and St. Louis, Missouri.  I have had multiple tests completed.  God has opened the door and has directed me to to an excellent heart specialist and heart surgeon in St. Louis at the Barnes Jewish Hospital.  They say my heart was still strong, but I was in heart failure.  I wasn't supposed to be lifting or exerting myself at all, as this can be dangerous for me.

I went to St. Louis to Barnes Jewish Hospital on June 14, 2011.  On the 14th I had a heart cath test to see if I had any blockages.  I did not - which is surprising, considering how I eat.  If I would have had blockages, they would have done a bypass at the same time as the septal myectomy.  This was good news. 

The morning of the 15th, they came in to get me to take me back to the holding area for surgery.  

My Kids After Surgery


They took me into surgery at 8:05am, but they had to do a lot of prep work first.  They made the first incision at 9:15am.  My surgeon went out to see my wife and family at 11:15am - his part was completed.  He gave a very good update about how I did.  After the surgeon finished, they still had to finish with me in the operating room.  I got to ICU at 1:15pm.  Total time in surgery was 5 hours and 10 minutes. 


A Day or Two After Surgery

I lost a good amount of blood during surgery, but my surgeon didn't want to give me blood (can be dangerous).  That caused other problems, but we worked through them.  I was low on oxygen, anemic and some other things. 

Wednesday, the day of surgery, I did fine.  Thursday night was another story.  I went into shock and atrial fibrillation.  They said instead of my heart beating, it was shaking.  They were very worried about me not making it through the night.  God is good.  Thanks to everyone for their prayers. 

Pumping Oxygen Into Me


They Made me get up and Walk - Not Easy!

During my hospital stay, I was out of it much of the time.  The way I decided to be a witness for Christ, was to be very kind and friendly to the staff, as well as talk to them about God when I could.  My mom and Leann (my wife) went through the hospital passing out the million dollar bill gospel tracts and leaving them around for others to find.


Leaving Million Dollar Bill Gospel Tracts Around for People to Find


I want to thank you for all your prayers and support while I was in the hospital - and even now, during my recovery.  As soon as I'm able, I will hit the streets again and witness. 

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God bless,

Brad St. Clair

www.RepentAndTurn.com