The News
Quadruple bypass surgery for Dad.
It was performed Thursday morning. As of tonight, Friday at 11:32, he's already many hours out of the ICU and into a normal room. He's looking good; the surgeon said it went about as well as could be expected of a surgery like that ("plain vanilla" were his words). Life expectancy probably went up for him, since the average after a surgery like this is the same expectancy of a healthy person of your age/gender. The reason I say it probably went up for him is that he used to smoke (can't no mo' 'cause...well, it'd just be silly) and that four blood vessels were at least 80% blocked, so nyah. He was otherwise in good health.
It was scary going to see him in the ICU the first time. Dad's a dad, you know? A father figure. I'm almost 23 and he's still invincible in my eyes, so seeing him laid low like that, all covered in sheets and with tubes everywhere, was kind of a shock. We went back later in the day and he was de-tubed (breathing tube only) and awake and lucid and all, which was happy. Much rather see him awake than helpless like that.
They said it'll be about 6 weeks before he's back to normal, but those 6 weeks are 6 weeks I'll be glad to suffer through him babying about not feeling good :)
Things work in strange ways. The doc said his heart attack probably occurred late Sunday night or early Monday morning, but the effect was delayed until he felt the chest pain at 1am Wednesday morning. Cardiologist called it the "world's smallest heart attack." If it hadn't have been for the small one like this, a much more serious one would probably have followed, and soon. As it is, his heart muscle is completely undamaged.
This makes it two: one was the tiny attack to save Dad's life. The second thing happened a few years ago when our neighbor was still alive--cops were chasing a stolen vehicle through the neighborhood and the commotion woke everyone up (waaaay late at night/early morning). Dad and neighbor were out talking on the driveway when neighbor suddenly went rigid and keeled over. They said later his heart had stopped, and installed a pacemaker. They also said had he not been awake right then, he wouldn't have lived to see the morning (what with no one to notice his inactivity and call an ambulance).
Charmed neighborhood? Guardian angels? Who knows?
It was performed Thursday morning. As of tonight, Friday at 11:32, he's already many hours out of the ICU and into a normal room. He's looking good; the surgeon said it went about as well as could be expected of a surgery like that ("plain vanilla" were his words). Life expectancy probably went up for him, since the average after a surgery like this is the same expectancy of a healthy person of your age/gender. The reason I say it probably went up for him is that he used to smoke (can't no mo' 'cause...well, it'd just be silly) and that four blood vessels were at least 80% blocked, so nyah. He was otherwise in good health.
It was scary going to see him in the ICU the first time. Dad's a dad, you know? A father figure. I'm almost 23 and he's still invincible in my eyes, so seeing him laid low like that, all covered in sheets and with tubes everywhere, was kind of a shock. We went back later in the day and he was de-tubed (breathing tube only) and awake and lucid and all, which was happy. Much rather see him awake than helpless like that.
They said it'll be about 6 weeks before he's back to normal, but those 6 weeks are 6 weeks I'll be glad to suffer through him babying about not feeling good :)
Things work in strange ways. The doc said his heart attack probably occurred late Sunday night or early Monday morning, but the effect was delayed until he felt the chest pain at 1am Wednesday morning. Cardiologist called it the "world's smallest heart attack." If it hadn't have been for the small one like this, a much more serious one would probably have followed, and soon. As it is, his heart muscle is completely undamaged.
This makes it two: one was the tiny attack to save Dad's life. The second thing happened a few years ago when our neighbor was still alive--cops were chasing a stolen vehicle through the neighborhood and the commotion woke everyone up (waaaay late at night/early morning). Dad and neighbor were out talking on the driveway when neighbor suddenly went rigid and keeled over. They said later his heart had stopped, and installed a pacemaker. They also said had he not been awake right then, he wouldn't have lived to see the morning (what with no one to notice his inactivity and call an ambulance).
Charmed neighborhood? Guardian angels? Who knows?