Wednesday, April 20, 2011

I {heart} Heart Surgery

Well it's been a tough week for me. But it's been about a million times rougher for my Dad.

We were told that the surgery to replace his damaged heart valve would take only two hours - when the two hour mark came and went with no sign of my Dad, funnily enough I didn't start worrying (well I was already worried, I didn't start worrying more).

Instead, because I hadn't anticipated being at the hospital this long I was faffing around trying to find food for Tricky. He had eaten all the food I had brought with us (an entire lunch box full) and he would be getting hungry shortly - I'm normally so organized, but my head just wasn't in the right space.

After much kafuffle, calling the kitchen and walking to the hotel down the road, two pieces of bread was all that could be found. It was one of those moments where I was so grateful that I was able to breastfeed because I was able to 'top him up' and keep him happy.

At least it kept me busy, because by now we'd passed the four hour mark and I was getting antsy. My mind was reeling and every minute felt like an eternity but I remember thinking that time didn't drag quite this slowly when it was Tricky under the knife.

Because we were trying to keep Tricky quiet-ish and were getting sick of walking around the cupboard-sized waiting room, my Mum took one step outside the door and there he was... being wheeled past us to the Intensive Care Unit, almost five hours after surgery began.

A while later we were allowed to go in and see him. It wasn't a pretty sight.

Three IVs, plus five separate syringe pumps, a ventilator, drainage tubes, wires everywhere. Even some which led straight to his heart that were connected to a defibrillator, ready to be zapped should his heart stop.

I stood next to him, held his hand, and even though he was unconscious and would be kept that way for another day, I told him I loved him and that Tricky was just outside the door and couldn't wait to see him. I bawled my eyes out, then, as we'd arranged earlier, I took his picture so that when he's all better he can see what he looked like.

No, I won't put that photo here, because it's pretty confronting. Instead, I'll put this one, taken just two days after, when he was still in ICU, barely able to move, but still gave a thumbs up.



In the days that followed, the machines (that go PING), the wires and tubes were gradually reduced and he was moved from ICU to coronary care.

It's a bit strange to see a man who has shoveled 4.5 tonnes of crap from my garden in one day become so exhausted after doing his breathing exercises that he can't talk; so tired after a shower that he needs a two hour nap; so weak that he can't lift the Sunday paper.

But that's to be expected after having your sternum sawn in half, I'm told.

And today... well today he comes home. One week. Apparently that's all it takes to heal from open heart surgery. Though, after seeing how overworked the hospital was, I'm convinced he's not so much "recovered" as "taking up space". Taking up a bed that some other poor sucker, who is about to tread the same path as my Dad, is quite literally dying to have.

Major thanks again to everyone who sent their best wishes and prayers, and to Kim of All Consuming who reminded me that my Dad now has to say "That's not a scar, THIS is a scar"


___________________________________________________
Glowless rocked the Aussie Bloggers Conference thanks to

29 comments:

  1. He looks so well, great to hear. Glad he is coming home to you all.

    ReplyDelete
  2. glad the wait is over and he's looking well and happy. Yay for heart surgery!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Awesome news that he's coming home, and he's through the surgery. I will help you celebrate with many beverages in a couple of weeks. This will be my reason for consuming - doing it for Mr Glow Snr

    ReplyDelete
  4. Phew, so glad all went well! Happy dances all round I'm sure!! xox

    ReplyDelete
  5. Oh hon, getting choked up reading this. Glad he's doing well and that the surgery went smoothly. Huge hugs to you and your dad. Will continue to send prayers and healing thoughts. xx

    ReplyDelete
  6. What a trooper, tell him to get a zipper pull tattooed at the top of his scar :)

    ReplyDelete
  7. I'm glad to hear that your Dad is feeling better. You do know that the machine that goes PING is the most expensive machine in the hospital, don't you? ;)

    ReplyDelete
  8. He looks good! I give him the big thumbs up. Hope the recovery is good and everything gets back to normal for you guys, this must have been so stressful.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Wow - even two days later he was looking so well. I hope that the recovery keeps going so smoothly and he will be back to his normal 'well' self quickly.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Go (Mr) Glow! Nice scar but love your grin and thumbs up more xxx

    ReplyDelete
  11. Now that IS a scar! I shall show it to my hubby to tell him to stop fussing over his mole removal scar!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Oh he looks so good!!! Am so happy for you, all of you xx

    ReplyDelete
  13. Great to see he is doing well !!

    ReplyDelete
  14. I love my dad so much, I'm scared to imagine what you must've gone through with this one. So glad he is okay and you're okay. We really can't waste time not telling the people we love how much we love them.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Beautiful, beautiful post and love the last picture of your trooper of a Dad. You quoted Monty Python! You're my hero.

    Hoping for a quick easy recovery for your Dad, many hugs from me xxx

    ReplyDelete
  16. That final photo made me smile, he looks loads better. I'm glad he's on the mend.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Wishing your dad all the best. Being 'strong' when someone you love is very ill is not easy.

    ReplyDelete
  18. He is looking good for having the surgery a week ago. We went through the same thing with my Grandfather (He's 70) back in January. It was hard on all of us, but his recovery is going well and I hope the same for your father!

    ReplyDelete
  19. Glad to hear he's doing well. And that is a scar.

    ReplyDelete
  20. So glad that your Dad has come through so well. I think he looks amazing for someone who had such huge surgery not that long ago....

    Take good care.

    AFW

    ReplyDelete
  21. Yay. Your dad rocks. Maybe he is coming home a little early, but they wouldn't discharge him if they didn't think he'd be ok (with a lot of bed rest).
    Heart surgery is something that is typical in my family with both of my grandfathers having had triple bypasses (and young too in their 50's). I never saw them in hospital or anything, i was too young but it would be very confronting and scary.
    Your dad seems like such a happy go lucky guy. Hopefully he is now around for many many more decades to come.

    ReplyDelete
  22. They do seem to recover quickly *thank goodness! My Dad was home after 5 days- pretty unbelievable when you think of what they do! Glad things are going so well, thinking and praying :)

    ReplyDelete
  23. Here's to a speedy recovery.....

    ReplyDelete
  24. Great to hear your dad's surgery went well. Lots of Love xxx

    ReplyDelete
  25. glad he came through it a-ok. our health system may suck at times but they manage to pull off the hard work when it's needed!

    here's hoping he has a speedy recovery....

    ~x~

    ReplyDelete
  26. That's such fantastic new, Glowless. So good to see him looking much better too. I hope his recovery is swift. xx

    ReplyDelete
  27. He's a brave one and so are you. All the best for a speedy recovery.

    ReplyDelete
  28. Your Dad rocks. Yay for great Dad's and awesome lifesaving medical intervention. Happy Easter

    ReplyDelete
  29. Just found this post as a suggestion at the bottom of this weeks flog yo blog.
    Open Heart Surgery is certainly a hectic experience! It just blows your mind what the medical profession can do and thankfully too! Your dad is a champ (loving the thumbs up).
    When Jack went in at 5 months old I was of course anxious, but I think what gets you through it, is that if they don't get that OHS they will die. So yep a no-brainer hey ;-)
    I am glad I stumbled across this post =) as always an awesome read x

    ReplyDelete

Comments are blogger crack.
Comments are taken through Disqus. If you don't see that here then please try another browser or device. Thanks x

LinkWithin

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...