Complications

As some of you know, Dad had some complications after his surgery. During his stay at the hospital, they told him he had anemia and gave him between (as near as we can tell) 8-10 units of blood. His left leg where they harvested the vein used in his aortic replacement became swollen to at least three times the size of his other leg. It was red and warm to the touch.

I asked why they were giving him so much blood and they told me because he was anemic. We asked what was wrong with his leg, and Dad complained about the pain in his leg (it was actually greater than his chest pain after a few days). They told him it was healing just fine.

He gained 20 lbs from the day he entered the hospital on the 4th until he was put into a hospital room on the 7th. We asked about the weight gain (because they had pamphlets that said, report weight gain of over 5 lbs a week to your doctor, something is wrong) and they said he was just fat.

We left to come home on 2-14, Valentine's Day. The cardiac surgeon looked at Dad's leg and was "concerned". He put Dad on antibiotics (which they could have done during his stay at the hospital if anyone had really looked at his leg), and we left.

This week, on Thursday, we visited with out GP up here. She was alarmed at his leg and the fact he was starting to bleed through the sutures in that leg. For a bit, he had stopped bleeding, but then it started and there was nothing I could do to stop the bleeding. She made an immediate appointment with a surgeon because they suspected a bad infection and expected that he had an hematoma and would need the leg re-opened and drained.

The surgeon did indeed concur with that and reopened his leg and drained it of blood and (to be very blunt) pus. Dad said it was a terrible smell. Then the surgeon noticed that after he'd gotten all of that out, Dad kept on bleeding. He searched and found that apparently the vein where they had harvested Dad's new aorta had been "nicked" and was bleeding into his leg cavity.

He sutured Dad's "nick". Now, Dad's leg is open. It must be stuffed twice daily with gauze and then covered with a pad and then an athletic bandage. I won't go into the complete details, but it is very unpleasant.

The good news is that Dad seems to be healing, though. They call it "open healing". Sounds gross, but I guess it's the best way to get the infection out.

I called the cardiac surgeon who worked on Dad's heart and his first words were "wow". Then he stated that he didn't believe that the vein had been "nicked".

I can't understand why people who pumped him full of blood because he was anemic couldn't tell that it was just filling up in his leg. Poor Dad. We don't know how long this will last. The doctor originally said it could be a month or more where his leg would be an open wound. Hopefully, it is getting better. At least we think the infection is gone because Dad's color is finally getting better.

He still can't really walk around, and wants to get back to work, but we're not sure when that is going to happen. His chest, however, has seemed to heal fine. And that way, he's doing pretty good. It only hurts when he coughs or laughs a lot.

Recovery

Dad went for two 20-minute walks today. He is still struggling, but did get almost 7 hours sleep last night, which is the most he's had since Feb. 4, 2008. Hopefully, that will get better, too. He is starting to get open wounds from places where skin is missing all over his left leg (which is where they removed the vein to do the two bypasses in his heart.) We're trying to keep that under control now.

He'll be seeing a Home Healthcare nurse tomorrow. Maybe she'll have an answer to that.

Then today (after Dad having Heperin shots every day since the 4th) we find the FDA stopped the use of Heperin Monday (probably after we left). It causes breathing problems (and other things). Oh, well. At least he survived.

We miss everyone. Take care.

Leaving Hospital

Today we received the good news that Dad is to leave the hospital today. We must stay until next Friday (probably will drive home Saturday), but he is able to leave the hospital today. I can't believe it. After spending every night here for over a week, it seems otherwordly. I can't wait to get him to the hotel and then home.

He is in pain, but getting stronger all the time. Will update later. But he still has some liquid in one side of his lungs, but is starting to cough up more. Going to rest today. Haven't slept well for awhile. Neither has Dad. Can't wait.

Dad's Surgery

Today Dad was moved out of ICU into regular hospital rooms. He is more awake and alert. He is also complaining more. :) Which is a good thing, actually. However, he is still weak and it takes a lot out of him for long phone conversations. I'll give you kids an opportunity to talk with him as he feels up to it.

They got him sitting up today, which makes him feel much better, not slumped down on his chest. They took the chest tubes out yesterday and it is helping him breathe much easier. He is, of course, still in pain. But, hopefully, the more exercise he gets, the faster he will heal.

We don't have an exit plan yet, but I know whatever it is, it won't be soon enough for Dad.

They took him walking for about 150 yards this morning. Which is actually quite impressive. He still sleeps a lot, but he is healing, so that is good. And he has exercises to do 3 times a day. Then because the hotel where we are staying has stairs, they'll be working on stairs with him before he is released.

Hopefully, the 17th is still a good day to leave. But I won't know until the doctor comes in sometime today. Actually, I've got night shift now, so I'll be with him at night when there are no doctors. Wenda and the Borns will be with Dad during the day.

It's amazing how well he's doing for what he's been through. I'm hoping his recovery is faster now that he's out of ICU and they're finally taking care of his asthma. We have to get his lungs to recover from the surgery and then he'll be ready to leave.

Take care, love you all.

Surgery Feb. 4, 2008

Okay. Dad entered the hospital at 5:30 a.m. this morning. They did a CT scan with contrast because of the possibility of something the doctor thought he found on Friday afternoon.

The CT scan showed a double blockage (in additon to the aneurysm) in his heart. So they added a double bypass to his aneurysm surgery. This made the surgery really long. At about 4:00, they were finished and have now moved him to the ICU building.

He is doing really well. There is some bleeding that they're trying to stop right now, but his blood pressure is fine (keeping it low right now to control the bleeding and keep his heart quieter). He looked really good when I saw him.

I said Hi to him and his blood pressure jumped to 135. They said that was a really good sign. I'm not so sure that making his blood pressure rise is a good sign. :) But it seems that even under drugs, he recognized my voice.

He won't be awake until tomorrow morning. Since the surgery was so long and more complicated than they originally thought, he might be in the ICU two days instead of one, which is what we expected. So it depends on how he responds when he "wakes" up tomorrow.

I've been told to go back to the hotel and get some rest since I'll be taking care of him once he's released (which we don't know now because of the length of the surgery, again). But he's alive and doing fine and I am so grateful to Heavenly Father that your Dad and the love of my life is doing well.

It was a miracle that the aneurysm was found. It was a second miracle that the two blockages were found and are now fixed. I believe that your Dad will be doing much better physically than he has for the last couple years because of the double bypass he needed that we didn't know about.

I will stay for one more visit (he'll still be out). Then I'm going back to the hotel to rest.

Love you all,
Thanks for your phone calls and concern. It's great to know we have this great man in our lives still.

Take care.

Pre-Op

We arrived safely in LA at 5:30 a.m. Friday. Dad had all his pre-op testing done yesterday. We spent 8 hours at Cedars getting test, test results, talking with the doctor.

Learned a little more about what operation they're doing. Apparently, Dad's aneurysm is right in the aortic valve coming off of the heart. They're going to go in and "scrape" off the aneurysm so that he keeps his "old" valve and they don't have to replace it. Then they're putting a dacron pipe (my word) fitting around the area where the aneurysm is.

We didn't realize that his aneurysm was in the valve. But this explains the urgency for the surgery. If the aneurysm would have burst in the valve, the valve would have been destroyed and the heart would not be pumping any blood out, it would be pooling in his heart.

The surgery will be long. Dr. Trento (Dad's cardiologist and the head of Cardiology) only does one of these surgeries per day. So don't expect any news until about 4-5 p.m. PST. Sorry about that, but I'll be waiting for 12 hours in the hospital myself.

We found a ward down here near the hotel (and the hospital), so we'll be going tomorrow.

Oh, another plus (and I am kidding), I sprained my ankle just before driving down here, so right now, Dad is helping me around. We are going to be quite a pair for the next two weeks. Hopefully, my ankle will heal before that. I told Aunt Leslie what I had done and that it would be quite a sight, me getting around in a wheelchair while taking care of Dad in bed. She said it gave her some ideas. (Those of you who know Aunt Leslie know what that means).

We've had several calls with people wishing Dad well and keeping him in their prayers.

He also gets an angiogram (tube up the groin into his heart) before surgery Monday morning, so I guess that's a bonus; right? But that will make the surgical time even longer. So I'll call you children as soon as I know, ok? But apparently, you will be able to call me while I wait if anyone is so inclined. I will be getting updates as the surgery goes on they tell me. And I won't be back to blog until Tuesday morning. But I fully expect to call you all before then for sure.

Take care.