Aaron's surgery is happening as I type. They should have started around 7 am and they expect the surgery to last three or four hours. My parents are at the hospital waiting. They were told a nurse would come out periodically and the doctor would talk to them after it was all finished. I spoke to my parents an hour into the procedure and they hadn't heard anything from the nurse yet. I would love to be at the hospital to wait with them and hear the updates personally, but having a two year old makes that difficult. I asked my dad to give me updates so I could pass them along here and save them the stream of phone calls.
One thing I found out about the surgery recently is that replacing the heart valve also includes switching out some of the heart, veins, and other surrounding tissues. I don't know how long they will have Aaron unconscious after they finish. I know it wasn't until the next morning that my dad came out of it. Aaron's surgery will not involve as much of his body, so I'm not sure if he'll come out of the anesthesia today or tomorrow.
On the financing front, it turns out that Medicaid denied Aaron's first application. In order for a man to not be rejected outright on the first try he must earn less than $15,000 a year. That works out to just over $7 an hour before taxes. For someone who is paying rent and child support that's not even enough to live on. He's applying again, as well as for other programs. Considering that he needs this surgery to save his life, I would hope he can be approved by one or more groups.
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