Miracle of miracles
Published: June 27, 2005
As Joy Kruchowski celebrated her 34th birthday Thursday she was all smiles.
Surrounded by her family she had everything she needed to make the day special, including one thing she is truly thankful for — good health.
“I feel wonderful — I really do,” said Joy. “ I definitely count my blessings.”
Joy is recovering from open heart surgery, which she had a week ago, to have a hardened clot and small growth removed from the right atrium of her heart.
The mass was discovered while she was 27 weeks pregnant with twins. At first doctors thought it was a clot in her heart and tried to thin out her blood.
“They were concerned with the size of it. They thought it could be either a clot or a tumor,” said Tom, Joy’s husband. The mass was one inch by three quarters inch in length. “They were worried about it getting bigger later on if it was ignored.”
However, Joy said they weren’t able to perform surgery when they found it because she was pregnant.
“If it would’ve came loose, I would’ve died,” said Joy about the tumor. “I was scared a lot during my pregnancy.”
In light of her delicate situation, Joy ended up in the hospital at the end of March, with the babies being born premature a month later on April 30.
Tom and Joy, along with their two-year-old son, Osten, welcomed fraternal twins, a boy, Parker, and a girl, Justina.
From the end of March, when Joy went into the hospital, through the middle of June, at least one member of the Kruchowski family was in the hospital.
Parker was only home for a couple days when he went back to the hospital because he was having difficulty breathing due to a respiratory virus. Justina was in the hospital needing oxygen support and a nasal feeding tube.
“Easter weekend it all started. I became a wreck,” said Tom. “It’s hard to describe. From Easter to Father’s Day we’ve been just running — trying to keep our sanity.”
It wasn’t long after recovering from having the babies, Joy underwent open heart surgery.
“I was nervous I just wanted to get it done. I just wanted it over with,” said Joy.
Tom said he was really concerned.
“Open heart surgery is really major,” he said. “Having the twins involved, it doubled the concerns.”
Tom and Joy both agreed the support of the community, the hospitals and the clinics have been tremendous.
“Everybody has been supportive and caring,” said Tom. “It’s so overwhelming I don’t even know what to say. That’s where I’ve been just shocked.”
Tom, who works at the University Medical Center - Mesabi in Hibbing, said the faculty has been very helpful.
“The hospital has been incredible — so supportive and very giving,” said Tom.
While in St Mary’s Medical Center in Duluth, Joy said the staff really helped her through trying times.
“They were so good to me,” said Joy. “There were times I missed my husband and my son so much. When I couldn’t be home with my two-year-old, they were a big shoulder to cry on.”
With the assistance of her caring family, including her loving husband, Joy is on the road to recovery.
Joy’s mom, June Leas, who has been staying with them to help take care of the twins, said its been a difficult ordeal.
“After they told us (about the tumor) I wasn’t sleeping, that’s for sure,” said Leas. “I’m glad to be here now with them and I’m so glad everything is over.”
“It’s just made my family a lot closer,” added Joy.
Everyone is grateful the surgery was a success and that the outlook for Joy’s health is good, which Joy said is a huge relief.
“It’s a big weight off of my shoulder. I feel like I can do anything,” she said. “There’s nothing looming over my head. I don’t have to worry about so much.”
After being in and out of the hospital for the past few months, Joy said she is thankful to be here with her family.
“I just remember coming through the door thinking, we are all here — we are all home,” she said.
And with finally having their little bundles of joy home, life is starting to feel a little more normal for Tom and Joy.
Amazon discount!
A Survivor’s Guide to Open Heart Surgery“It’s pretty special,” said Joy about being able to enjoy her new twins. “You just add a little more water to the soup.”
“It’s nice just to have everyone home,” added Tom.
Since this ordeal, Joy said they have learned to appreciate the little things in life.
“I just want to get through day to day,” said Joy.
“And just hope everyone stays healthy,” added Tom.
If you enjoyed this good news Subscribe to Good News Blog
Share this
To share this simply copy and paste one of the below URL's: