John Vega- Lake Nona Middle School – Technology Specialist, frequent assistant and long-time friend of Hope Presbyterian Church at Lake Nona. He has never met a stranger and would give you the shirt off his back. He believes in “Community!”
At the end of January, after a heart scan the previous week, John received a call that no person wants to get. He was told to proceed to the nearest emergency room immediately due to a life-threatening blockage. Vega was admitted, consultations happened, and a catheterization was scheduled for the next day. Unfortunately, when the procedure started they found that the damage was much more severe than anticipated; 4 blockages with one of his arteries being extremely hardened. Four days after that life-changing initial phone call, John underwent quadruple open-heart bypass surgery.
After the surgery, John has had multiple medical setbacks. He developed Ileus; a condition where the GI system is paralyzed after a major surgery. This caused his left lower lung to collapse and it filled with fluid. His team of doctors had to do a thoracentesis and removed 1200 units of fluid from his lungs. Several more days of hospitalizations ensued but John still wasn’t feeling quite right. He had been experiencing fibrillation with erratic pulse and blood pressure fluctuations.
Several weeks after the initial quadruple bypass, Vega’s aortic valve stopped working in his lower right valve. One of the three flaps had shut down so what they thought was a heart murmur was misdiagnosed. John then faced another open heart surgery to replace his aortic valve. Following that surgery and ensuing pneumonia, he also became septic and had to be rushed back to the hospital. Thankfully, John has responded well to the vigorous course of antibiotics and is currently on an upward trend in his course of recovery. We sure do miss seeing him on campus daily! He cannot return to work until at least the end of June or the beginning of July…
