The Metropolitan is doing much, much better, at this point.
His fever has gone down, he is concious and is talking.
What happened was probably an infection in the blood, but this has been identified and he is being treated for it. Bacterial infection is most likely what it is.
Christ is Risen!
We just finished the Hierarchal Divine Liturgy, to hear the joyous news from Father Dionysios that the Metropolitan is doing, much, much better, at this point.
His fever has gone down, he is concious and is talking. He is suffering a
bit from the effects of his medications right now, so that his memory is not as sharp as it typically is, but this is temporary.
What happened was probably an infection in the blood, but this has been
identified and he is being treated for it. He will have to be on antibiotics
for about two weeks. Bacterial infection is most likely what it is. It could
have come from skin being dirty, or something during the operation, only God knows.
We thank you all for your prayers.
Christ is Risen!
Dear Faithful,
Christ is Risen!
We just spoke with Vladyka via the telephone. His temperature is down. He is a bit disappointed and I might say, a little depressed, having woken up
today in the ICU again.
He asked why he was there, and what day is it, and what happened, etc., etc. It was a setback, but Vladyka is strong. The doctors also said that there
was no effect on the heart.
Father Andrew and Father Dionysi spent the whole day and night with him. This fever/infection setback will cause him to remain in the ICU for
probably two days.
Doctor Barry is working on his pharmacuetical supply. He is going to give
him enough medicine to last him for one year free of charge.
May the Lord God Who rose from the dead on the third day, through the
prayers of His most pure Mother, the Myrrh-Bearing Women, all the New
Martyrs of Russia, and the Wonderworkers of Suzdal, have mercy on us and save us. Amen.
In Christ,
+Bishop Gregory
Dormition Skete
A Monastery of the Russian Orthodox Autonomous Church
http://www.BuenaVistaCO.com/GOC
http://www.ROACAmerica.org
Dear Faithful,
Christ is Risen!
Bishop Gregory just called with an update regarding Metropolitan Valentine.
This morning Bishop Gregory brought Holy Communion to the Metropolitan and Fr. Andrei.
The Metropolitan is doing much better, but the fever has taken its toll on him, so he is weak. He is conscious, he is talking, and he is sitting up. The doctors want the Metropolitan to begin standing today.
Bishop Gregory is going to be in Colorado Springs all day today, so we will have another update later this afternoon or perhaps this evening.
Christ is Risen!
In Christ,
Dormition Skete
A Monastery of the Russian Orthodox Autonomous Church
http://www.BuenaVistaCO.com/GOC
http://www.ROACAmerica.org
April 12/25, 2004
Dear Faithful,
Christ is Risen!
Last week we left you with news that Vladyka Metropolitan was about to have an open-heart surgery. Thank God, through your prayers, all went well. I am going to explain the events in greater detail than before.
As we know, Metropolitan Valentine was acquitted of all charges against him that were instigated by the bishops of the Moscow Patriarchate. Because of this vindication, Vladyka's restriction to travel abroad was rescinded. News however came to Suzdal that the bishops of the Moscow Patriarchate were irritated to no end that the ridiculous charges against our Metropolitan were judged to be ludicrous, after all, there were no victims and there were no witnesses to any crime. The Moscow Patriarchate had determined after Pascha to ask the authorities to review and if possible reinstate the conviction and restrictions on our Metropolitan. Our Metropolitan therefore determined that he was going to utilize this window of opportunity right after Pascha to leave Russia for the United States for a short time, and then fly to Switzerland where he had an appointment in one week after Pascha to be reviewed by physicians there for an operation to install stints in his bypass veins. We! should note that Vladyka has had a heart condition for a number of years, because the veins of the bypass surgery he had in 1996 were being clogged.
Metropolitan Valentine determined that he should leave immediately and he left Suzdal right after Pascha Liturgy and arrived in New York Bright Monday. His arrival was a surprise to all of us. He stayed at Fr. Vladimir Shiskoff's home in New Jersey. While in New Jersey, he planned to visit the Swiss Consulate to obtain a visa to enter Switzerland for his medical needs. I was notified on Tuesday that Vladyka was in New York, and he asked me to fly there and meet him before he went to Switzerland the following week. While we were looking at airfares, which were exceedingly expensive, he was in the process of visiting the Swiss Consulate that he might obtain a visa to fly there from New York. Wednesday proved fruitless for Vladyka, because he arrived at the Consulate after it closed, and Thursday also proved a disappointment because he was told that he could not get a visa to Switzerland, that he had to fly back to Russia and get a visa from Russia. This was a great set ba! ck to him.
In the meantime, we were scrambling to get reasonable airfare to fly back to New Jersey. If we flew back on times we wished, the price would be over $1200 because of the short notice. We finally found airfare where we would have to depart when the airline wanted us to travel, and come back when they wished for $280. After discussing this with Vladyka, I convinced him to travel here at those times, which were Saturday evening at four and back Tuesday evening. He agreed, thinking that he would return to Russia on the 22nd, and he would be back in New York on the 19th.
Friday night Vladyka was having severe chest pains, but he endured it all, and served Saturday morning with Father Vladimir. During the Liturgy he was also in great pain. He still got on the plane, and arrived on Saturday at 7pm. He had pain Saturday evening and he served Sunday morning. Sunday afternoon, he wanted to have a conference with the clergy that had gathered. Father John Claypool had come from California, Father Dionysios from Colorado Springs, and the monastery clergy, Father George, Father Andrew and myself. He was feeling very well, and quite frankly did most of the talking. He retired around 11pm, and in a half hour again started having chest pains, unbeknownst to us. Father George, seeing that his lights were on, went to his room around midnight to invite him to take some tea, if he wished. There he found the Metropolitan in extreme pain. Vladyka did not ask for assistance, probably because he had now become used to the pain.
Father George notified me and I came from my quarters and asked Vladyka if we could help him in any way, or what could we do for him. He told us that we could not help him, that he endured pain like this every night. I woke up the rest of the clergy, so they might look at him and make a suggestion. I also called Dr. Alajaji. While on the phone, Vladyka told Father Andrew that he was having pain down his left arm, which he frequently had on previous occasions. When I mentioned this to Dr. Alajaji, he encouraged me to call an ambulance immediately, even though it was 1am. I had Father Andrew tell the Metropolitan that I was going to call an ambulance, and to ask for the Metropolitan's permission. Vladyka Metropolitan said no, it will pass. We took his blood pressure, which was exceedingly high and discussed what alternatives we had. Father Andrew then came in and told us that the pain had gotten so severe, that the Metropolitan said he was ready to do anything we wished. ! I called the ambulance immediately, gave them directions, and they were here by 1:30am. By that time, Vladyka's pain had subsided and his blood pressure was down.
Father Andrew and I traveled with the ambulance to Salida into the Emergency Room, where the physician on call determined that Vladyka Metropolitan had a very serious heart problem that had to be looked at immediately. He and the hospital in Salida were not equipped to handle such a problem. They gave Vladyka a bed and oxygen, and determined to direct him to the Colorado Springs Cardiac Unit of the Penrose Hospital. We did not know how great a reputation this hospital has at the time. Monday morning it was determined that Vladyka Metropolitan was not in critical condition, therefore they would not send a helicopter from the Colorado Springs, but that he should be taken immediately by ambulance to Colorado Springs. He was there Monday morning. They immediately performed an angiogram, which gives a complete picture of any heart problem.
The doctor who was assigned to this case was Doctor William Anderson. All dangerous or high-risk cases are assigned to him. When I asked why, the nurses explained that Dr. Anderson is the most competent doctor they have. They gave Vladyka Metropolitan his own private room because of his ecclesiastical rank. Doctor Anderson met with me on Monday and explained that the operation in 1996, which installed three bypasses, had become almost useless. Two of the veins which were installed were completely clogged going to one side of the heart. Also on that side, his natural vein was 90% clogged. This meant that half of his heart was not receiving the blood and oxygen it needed. Therefore, a trip by Vladyka to Switzerland would have been fruitless. A stint cannot be put into a completely clogged vein. Doctor Anderson said that this situation was very serious, and that he was trying to reschedule his operations so that Vladyka could be operated on as soon as possible. This meant ! that he would be prepped the next day, and go in the following morning, which was Wednesday.
I brought Vladyka Holy Communion and he received it Wednesday morning at about 12:30am. He slept that night and in the morning around 8am he was already in the operating room, being sedated. The doctors thought that it would take four to five hours to complete the surgery. It took eight and half to nine hours however. This was due to the fact that there was scar tissue from the previous operation, which had to be removed.
In this operation, the heart is stopped after the body temperature is brought very low. They try to stop the heart for the shortest time possible. Therefore, the first thing that is performed is the harvesting of the arteries and veins, which they need for the bypass. One artery is taken from each arm. The vein comes from the leg. This procedure took a few hours. Once they are obtained, the chest cavity is sawed open and pulled apart to expose the heart. Then the bypasses are installed one by one, and the heart is punctured in those areas where the bypasses are so that blood can flow through them. Then the chest is closed and the skin is stitched, and the patient is brought out of sedation. Doctor Anderson was going to do the best he could possibly do. He understood that he had a highly honored and respected hierarch, so if he saw that he could perform a five-bypass surgery on him, he would do it. He did do it, which is also why the surgery took so long.
After the surgery he met with me and was very satisfied. He explained how half of the heart was being starved, and that Vladyka was on the verge of a massive heart attack, which most likely would have killed him. Doctor Barry, Dr. Anderson's assistant, is a devout Roman Catholic, who commented more than once that this had all come to pass by Divine Providence. He marveled at the whole story, and even searched out our web sites on the Internet. He told us that if Vladyka had not come to the monastery, he really doubted whether he would have survived another flight across the Atlantic.
After the operation, Vladyka was in intensive care. That night his bleeding was monitored and it was unacceptable. Doctor Anderson was notified, and he elected to call the important members of his team to come back to the hospital and open Vladyka up again. He did this and saw a few places that needed cauterization that were bleeding. We were told that this is not uncommon, since it was quite easy to do this, in that there was nothing healed yet. After the completion of this procedure, Vladyka was taken back to intensive care and slowly began to improve.
As the hours and days progressed, he built up his strength and was looking forward to leaving the intensive care unit, to go back to his private room. His vital signs improved as expected, and all machines assisting him were eventually removed from his body. He began to eat solid food and was concerned that we leave gifts for the doctors and nurses. Vladyka thought the worst was over with, and he was on the road to recovery, which indeed he was. Therefore, he made a statement thanking the Virgin Mary, whom he trusted, the New Martyrs of Russia and the Wonderworkers of Suzdal, etc., for his recovery. This was sent to Russia and it was printed in the Russian media. Everything at that time looked very good.
He signed thank you cards and left a fruit basket and a box of pastries for the staff in the intensive care unit. He was on his feet for a short time, just standing that day, which was Saturday. The decision was made that he should be transferred out of the intensive care unit, and he was moved to his hospital room. He had two meals, and around 6:30 developed a fever.
This fever intensified so much that he had to be taken back down to intensive care. There they cooled his body and tried to determine why his body temperature was up to 103.3 degrees. After performing a few tests, they understood it was a bacterial infection, and they prescribed the appropriate antibiotics, and now at this writing, Vladyka is back to an acceptable temperature of 99.5 degrees. The hospital is now making a thorough examination of why or how he had this infection.
It has been one week now since all of this great drama started. Father Andrew has been with Vladyka at all times. I did not want Vladyka, being in a foreign country, ever to be in a situation where he had no one to speak with. All the faithful in the area from Father Dionysios' parish and from the monastery have been doing everything they can, from prayers to giving blood in Vladyka's name. The doctors and nurses proved to be very, very exceptional people. Vladyka was very impressed. He had hesitated to even imagine such an operation, because he was told after he had the first operation, which was very, very painful, that if he had another one similar to it, it would be even worse. Vladyka told us that this operation was much less painful than the first, and he was exceedingly thankful. He did not stop thanking the doctors, the nurses, and the faithful for their prayers and love. Presently, he is a little bit depressed that he found himself again in the intensive care unit, but this also will pass. God's protection is over him. Now, we just have to be patient and give time for Vladyka to recover.
In our Risen Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, the Physician of our souls and bodies,
Dear Faithful,
Christ is Risen!
We just uploaded some new pictures to the ROAC site of the Metropolitan's
visit.
http://www.roacamerica.org/2004PastoralVisit.html
As posted earlier today, Metropolitan is in the ICU still. He is feeling
worn out from the effects of the fever and surgery. The doctors are planning to get him out of the ICU tomorrow. But for now, he simply needs rest.
Please keep us all in your prayers.
Dormition Skete
A Monastery of the Russian Orthodox Autonomous Church
http://www.BuenaVistaCO.com/GOC
http://www.ROACAmerica.org
