Missing Mark

 From Despair to Hope. Posted 2/3/24. Lived 9/11/21- 9/12/24 I drove over to Providence knowing there would be a lot of information and possibly not great news. For the surgery to last 15 hours I assumed there were problems. I was not wrong. The surgery started as usual for an aortic dissection, with the valve needing to be replaced and a portion of the aorta replaced. Dr. Ritchey was expecting some issues from Mark having been on blood thinners, but it was so much worse than anticipated. His remark was it is the worst blood loss with which I have ever dealt. Mark lost 40% of the blood in his body. Just controlling that was a major issue. The ascending aorta had to be replaced as well. There were other procedures done but these were the major issues. They weaned him off the bypass machine and were preparing to close him up. This was around midnight. Just as they were getting ready to close, his chest filled with blood. Another disruption occurred, this time at the aortic ro...