Mom and I saw dad briefly in the ICU this evening. He was still very much in surgery recovery mode. For the surgery, they cooled his body temperature and put his heart on ice (probably in the literal sense). They put him on a heart and lung machine to keep his blood moving while they removed the heart and worked on it. As a part of recovering from that, he’s been equipped with a breathing tube. To help the heart recover from the stress of stopping it, they use a temporary external pacemaker. When we saw him, he still had a breathing tube and a pacemaker. His heart was running at a steady 80 bpm on the pacemaker. His body was still cooler than normal, but they had him under an insulating / heating blanket of air with a special machine to keep it at just the right temperature. This will help him to recover his normal body temperature.
Unfortunately, we were unable to speak to the surgeons directly today. We did speak with the on-call resident, who had spoken with the surgeons and the anesthesiologist. He reported that everything had gone as well as could possibly be expected, and that Dad is doing great. We were a little shocked by the presence of the pacemaker, as we hadn’t been warned about it, but the doctors assure us this is a very normal part of the recovery process. When Dad’s heart is once again beating happily on its own, they will remove the pacemaker wires, and it should all heal up nicely. Also, Dad will have a wicked-awesome scar.
Mom has had a really hard time seeing Dad sedated heavily and hooked up to all kinds of machines. We’re all wiped out from an extremely long day on mediocre-at-best sleep, but things are, all in all, going very well. By morning, it’s likely they will remove his breathing tube, and it’s even possible his heart will be ready to beat on its own by then. We’ll be able to see him, wake him up, and talk to him. When we reach that point, I expect everyone will feel better.
Right now, Mom, Ashleigh and I are all at Meagan’s house. Mom and I have been up since 4:30 or so, and fairly stressed all day. The high point of Mom’s day was seeing the Ballard locks for the first time. We didn’t hang around in the ICU, since Dad wasn’t conscious anyway. Mom’s about to go to bed; Ashleigh and I will find some food and then try to sleep. Even with as little sleep as I have had recently, I’ll probably need some sort of distraction before I can sleep, but I expect mom to be out like a light any minute.
Dad’s in good hands, and being taken care of. We’re all a bit worried still, but the most dangerous part is over. Hooray for modern medicine!
Because I had to lay claim to it… my scar is bigger!
Okay, so it might not be *quite* true, but mine can give most other open heart surgery scars I’ve seen a run for their money.
Good luck, and I’m glad everythings going well thus far.
Benson, Thank You for keeping us all updated on today’s happening. My thoughts have been with you all. I’m so glad all is going well. Again, Thank You
Thanks for the wonderful update. Ballard Locks. First time? Amazing! Give ur mom a hug from me and squeeze yes dad’s hand once for me too!
I remember my mother’s heart surgery and how she looked those first few hours afterward, I am sure that this morning when you see Mike he will look 100% better and I am so thankful that all went well. God bless you all and give him my best when you talk to him today!
Dear Carole and Benson,
What an impressive reporting and scene view–thank you so verymuch.
We sort of abided (abode!) in limbo for some hours and the release is
exciting thanksagain.
Love Dad; Papa