Bypass done, Dad's home

Sorry for the delay...it was such an exciting and busy few days I completely forgot I hadn't posted how Dad's bypass went.

Wednesday morning we all got to the hospital very early to spend some time with Dad before surgery. He was scheduled for 7:30, and we were told they would take him to the OR for prepping around 6 AM. Well, they didn't actually take him until closer to 7AM. Then we waited until 8AM when the surgeon finally came. We all said a prayer, gave hugs and kisses and went to the waiting room to wait. They told us they would keep us updated every hour. At 9AM we got a little anxious since we hadn't heard from them. They called a little after 9 to let us know they just got started at 5 till nine. 10AM came and they were done with the robotic portion of the procedure and the surgeon was sewing the vessel in place. At 1040 we got a call they were done and to go the the waiting room outside the ICU, they were transferring Dad there for recovery. The surgeon said everything went very well, Dad was awake and doing good. We were able to go see him, the breathing tube was out. He did have several new tubes, one of them a line going into one of the large vessels in his neck and a chest tube that was taking out any blood that had oozed or any air from the surgery. He gave the thumbs up and we left so he could get some rest. The remaining part of the day he tried to rest while we visited briefly.

Thursday all of the tubes came out. Dad was feeling a little short of breath so they put him on some oxygen overnight. They moved him from the ICU, or should I say, he moved himself. He walked from his ICU bed to his new room down the hall in the step down unit. Friday morning they took him off the oxygen. He was hoping to be discharged on Friday, but no such luck. Instead he worked with physical therapy, met with the dietician and worked on his breathing exercises. Today they gave him his walking papers. He is home again and looking great. The incision in around 3 inches long sealed up with dermabond, which is like superglue for the skin. He has a small stitch still in place where the chest tube was, that will be removed this week.

Thank you all for the prayers and support while Dad was in the hospital and in surgery.