Support for Jamie O’Keeffe
Donation protected
As most of you know Jamie has a rare heart condition which causes aneurysms on the Aorta.
He had his big open heart surgery in December 2018 which took us four months to get him home and another four months for him to heal and get back to work.
Last year we were told he would need 20 stents fitted across two operations which was meant to be the last of his operations. Jamie went on to have 10 stents fitted all at once in December 2023, which also wasn’t without its complications. He took about three months to heal from this because of a DVT in the leg.
After going back to work and feeling a lot better, Jamie decided to get his last operation out of the way, so we could get on with life and enjoy holidays and spend time as a family, as Jamie loves to do.
He went into hospital on the 7th of March, the operation took a lot longer than they expected because they couldn’t fit the last stent in. For Jamie’s safety, they stopped the operation after seven hours due to heavy blood loss. Jamie was sent home a week later.
I brought him home from hospital at about 6.30pm and on the same day, about an hour later he was rushed back to A&E with a suspected stroke.
On arrival it was confirmed Jamie had a bleed on the brain and had suffered a stroke, he lost the use of his whole left side. Not being able to use his left arm is a nightmare as he is left handed and he is having to learn to use his right hand. If you send him a message, he will reply but it takes him a longer to reply!
At the end of the second week, Jamie woke up one night and noticed his left leg was moving at last. He still has a very long way to go but as you can imagine we are all over the moon as it wasn’t looking good before then.
Its been three and a half weeks now and he has started physio. They have got him standing for a minute on both legs but he is still not able to move the ankle or toes on the left leg. The left arm still nothing at this time.
He is getting stronger everyday and the physios are hopeful he will repair over time. They have mentioned maybe a stay of about three to four months in hospital including intense rehab at King George’s Hospital.
As you can imagine home life is very strange at the moment. Chrissy wants me, her mum at home with her. My mum is a god send and is taking care of Chrissy as she knows her daddy needs me more.
As most of you know I am very devoted to Jamie as he is to me and with my foot up his backside, I will get him back home asap
He says ‘thank you’ everyone for your kind words and keeping him going. It means so much to us both. He hopes to see you all soon
Thanks Guys
Suzy x
Last year we were told he would need 20 stents fitted across two operations which was meant to be the last of his operations. Jamie went on to have 10 stents fitted all at once in December 2023, which also wasn’t without its complications. He took about three months to heal from this because of a DVT in the leg.
After going back to work and feeling a lot better, Jamie decided to get his last operation out of the way, so we could get on with life and enjoy holidays and spend time as a family, as Jamie loves to do.
He went into hospital on the 7th of March, the operation took a lot longer than they expected because they couldn’t fit the last stent in. For Jamie’s safety, they stopped the operation after seven hours due to heavy blood loss. Jamie was sent home a week later.
I brought him home from hospital at about 6.30pm and on the same day, about an hour later he was rushed back to A&E with a suspected stroke.
On arrival it was confirmed Jamie had a bleed on the brain and had suffered a stroke, he lost the use of his whole left side. Not being able to use his left arm is a nightmare as he is left handed and he is having to learn to use his right hand. If you send him a message, he will reply but it takes him a longer to reply!
At the end of the second week, Jamie woke up one night and noticed his left leg was moving at last. He still has a very long way to go but as you can imagine we are all over the moon as it wasn’t looking good before then.
Its been three and a half weeks now and he has started physio. They have got him standing for a minute on both legs but he is still not able to move the ankle or toes on the left leg. The left arm still nothing at this time.
He is getting stronger everyday and the physios are hopeful he will repair over time. They have mentioned maybe a stay of about three to four months in hospital including intense rehab at King George’s Hospital.
As you can imagine home life is very strange at the moment. Chrissy wants me, her mum at home with her. My mum is a god send and is taking care of Chrissy as she knows her daddy needs me more.
As most of you know I am very devoted to Jamie as he is to me and with my foot up his backside, I will get him back home asap
He says ‘thank you’ everyone for your kind words and keeping him going. It means so much to us both. He hopes to see you all soon
Thanks Guys
Suzy x
Organizer
Suzanne Okeeffe
Organizer
England