Getting His Money's Worth

Surgery is done! They did 5 (!!) bypasses, so as my mom said, "I guess he needed it." I think he just wanted to get the most bang for his buck. It is but one of the many hurdles to clear, but a pretty big one. As of this morning, he was still on the ventilator and sedated. Sounds like he was a bit agitated last night and had communicated that he felt he wasn't getting enough air. What a horrible feeling, especially considering the ordeal he went through to get there.

According to nurse Leon (who my dad referred to as "the kid," as in "the kid gave me some Tylenol"), the plan is to take the balloon pump out of his heart this morning, and then six hours after that try to get him off the ventilator. Then they start you on jumping jacks I think. Heart rate and blood pressure are still a little high, but they don't seem too concerned about it. The surgeon said my dad's heart appeared to be beating stronger after the bypass compared to before, but we'll know more in a few weeks. That's all for now -- take care of your ticker, people! If not for you, then for your family. Just to give you an idea how much of a toll this has taken, Odie has actually lost his appetite. This is some serious stress!

The night before his surgery dad seemed a little perkier, and Nurse Robert (who is awesome, they all have been great) even had him out of bed and sitting in a chair. However, dad was not allowed to stand or move around since he was tethered to the wall with all his IVs and monitors. So we were just sitting around visiting, and Robert came in to ask if dad would like to get back in bed soon. Dad was like, "Yeah, OK," and sort of shifted like he was going to get up, and Robert said, "No, no, not yet, I'll help you, don't do it by yourself. I'm going to leave and I'll be right back and then we'll go to bed, I'll do it with you." And my dad says, "But I don't even know you!" I don't think Robert heard him -- probably just as well!