Yesterday (7/22/2013) morning he had his by-pass surgery, with 4 arteries grafted. The surgeon said they were positioned in a great place, that they didn't need to put him on the heart-lung machine, avoiding the "post bypass surgery cognitive dysfunction" that Dr. McDougall spoke of about Bill Clinton. No pump, no heart stoppage, no problems. Also, because of this, his surgery was completed in 2 1/2 hours instead of the 4-6 hours we were originally quoted.
He was awake and looking around within a half hour of the completion of the surgery while in the CTICU. The nurses didn't want him ripping anything out so sedated him again.
When I called this morning I was told he was off the respirator since last evening and the breathing tube was removed this morning. Later today not only will they get him out of bed but will make him walk a few steps at the bedside. He can't go far because he's still connected to chest tubes, IV's and other assorted tubes and wires.
The doc said he'll be home in 5 to 7 days.
In the meantime, while all of this has been going on, one car developed transmission trouble, the other had a dead battery while parked on the roof deck of the hospital parking garage on the day it hit 102 (Heat index 110), and my son wound up in the emergency room with an asthma and anxiety attack 2 days later. Oh, and today we have flood warnings out, and 2 of the roads between here and the hospital always flood, so my husband already directed me the other day NOT to come visit him if thunderstorms were even predicted. It's already been raining all night, so those roads are probably flooded already. My son and I will use today to do the laundry, some shopping and cooking, have three meals for the first time since last Tuesday (Heck, ONE hot meal that wasn't leftovers!), and generally decompress. If it's not too hot later (Ha!) I may even make some muffins with the very brown bananas in the refrigerator. I have the phone number to a direct line to the nurse caring for him (ratio is one on one in the Cardiothoracic ICU) and can call any time, day or night and speak directly to her, and when hubby is strong enough, to him, too. The nurse at 5am said he may be strong enough to talk to me later, that his throat was too sore from the trache tube to talk when I called, but he did give a thumbs-up when he heard we may not be coming because of the storms. That did help relieve some of the guilt I was feeling about my decision. :)
So, off to do the first Richard Simmons video for a few days, a nice hot breakfast, a long hot shower, then off to the laundromat with 2 weeks of laundry.
Thanks again for all those good vibrations and prayers.
Your post brings back memories. My hubby was home in 5 days. It's amazing they can do what they do and then your husband is well enough to go home in such a short period of time.
ReplyDeleteGlad he's doing so well.
He's now in the step-down unit and one of the docs said yesterday he may be home on Friday if all goes well with the physical therapist.
ReplyDeleteHe does not like the step-down unit at all - they're not at his beck and call within seconds like in CTICU and he had to wait for someone to bring him his urinal from wherever they hid it because at the time he wasn't allowed to get up by himself yet. Poor baby. Hopefully this morning he's stronger, up on his own, and in a better mood when we get there.