Update

I MUST start this with a huge "Thank You" for all the prayers and support. I told the surgeon today we (he and I) had 3000 - 4000 people around the country praying for us.

I hesitate going into much detail. I guess those that are interested in those kinds of things can take this bit of information and piece it together. We are definitely headed into surgery. I have two pre-surgery tests / procedures I must complete before surgery. We hope to complete these this week or early next week. We will be setting these dates tomorrow. Upon completion of these 2 items, we will be going into surgery asap. We plan to have the surgery no later than 3 weeks from now.

The surgery will be to replace the aortic valve and the ascending aorta. It turns out this is going to be a bit more complicated than I first anticipated. The surgeon was clear this is a "complex" surgery we will be doing. Leigh Ann and I liked the surgeon. We have confidence he is qualified and competent to do what is needed. But, as all of you who read this blog know, our confidence lies in the Great Physician. This is all in His hands! When He knit me together in my mother's womb, He was fully aware this would be an issue for me to deal with some day. This is all a part of transforming me into the likeness of Jesus Christ.

When we have an exact date for the surgery we will let you know. It will be much sooner than later. For those of you who are part of the ClearView family, I will see you this Wednesday night or Sunday morning.

Update

There is not really much to update here. I do have a surgeon's name. My surgeon (at least for now) will be Dr. Greelish. We will meet with him Monday. I have a long list of questions to ask. After that meeting I hope to have dates and timelines, etc. for surgery and recovery.

I do want to say again just how much my family and I appreciate all of your prayers, cards, emails, facebook messages, and tweets. We are blessed to serve such a church family and to have so many friends around the country lifting us up before the throne. We are still at great peace about all of this.

Mark

Update and Next Steps

I want to first of all thank all of you for praying for me and my family. You cannot know the encouragement you have been to all of us.

The results from the tests this week are back and I just spoke with the cardiologist. The MRI / MRA confirmed what we thought we saw in an earlier echocardiogram. I have a bicuspid aortic valve which has a minor leak. However, this is not the primary concern. The primary concern is an aortic anuerysm on the ascending aorta. That's more medical information than most of you want to know :-).

I apparently have a collagen problem in this part of my heart / aorta that is the cause of both the bicuspid valve as well as a weakened aortic wall. Due to some high blood pressure the wall of the aorta has been under some pressure for a period of time, thus compromising the aorta itself. Blah, blah, blah ...

This "fix" is surgical. I won't bore you with the details. I will be meeting with a cardiac surgeon some time after next week. I had planned on a few days with my parents in S. Georgia and the doctor has given me the go-ahead to make that trip.

Again, thanks for all your prayers. We still have another pre-surgery test or two. I do not have any dates or timelines. I will let you know as I have those.

Test Update

I don't really have much to update, but I know many of you have been praying for me today so I thought I would add a thought or two.

First, let me say, I have been overwhelmed by the number of people indicating they are praying for me, Leigh Ann, and Tiffany and Brittany. We are a blessed family to have so many who love us.

The test this morning went fine. I guess I know for sure I am not claustrophobic :-). The results have been sent to my cardiologist, so now we wait for his call to give us next steps. I take it from no call today that there was not anything imminent. So, I took today's no call as positive.

I will update you when we have more information.

Health Report

I shared with my church family yesterday I was going through some health challenges related to my heart. I will do my best to keep you updated through this blog.

I contracted pneumonia while at the Southern Baptist Convention (insert joke here :-)) in Orlando in June. While in the emergency room, they apparently tested me for things completely unrelated to my illness. That has turned out to be providential. As a result of some things they saw in the tests, I followed up with a cardiologist after returning to Franklin.

Last week the cardiologist in Franklin did an echocardiogram which indicated a problem. As it turns out, I have had a congenital heart problem that has impacted my heart in a negative way as I have grown older (that sounds so ... old). Anyway, I will be going in for more tests this coming Wednesday (August 4) morning. If those tests confirm what the cardiologist believes is true, the next step will be to visit with a cardiac surgeon.

I will post the official diagnosis on this blog when I know. This could be as early as late on August 5 or as late as August 11.

How can you pray?
1. I would love to walk out of the test Wednesday with the doctors confounded that they cannot find the problem and thus the first test was in error.
2. Assuming we find what is believed to be the problem, pray for wisdom for the doctors. I can add here, I am so grateful I live in 2010 and not 1910. The medical advances are amazing.
3. Pray for healing however God chooses to do so. Doctors and medical advances are great, but we trust God as our Great Physician.
4. Pray for my family (wife and two daughters). It is always harder on the family members than it is the patient. They are all strong in their walk with the Lord for which I am grateful. Pray for peace of mind.

To my church family, thank you for all your emails, fb messages, etc. confirming what I knew to be true ... you are praying for me.

Finally, I would share with you the verse the Lord gave me through my friend James MacDonald for this time.

Isaiah 26:3 says, "You keep in perfect peace the mind that is dependent on You, for it trusts in You."