Surgery Update

Dad went in for arterial bypass of the main artery that provides blood for his left leg yesterday morning. 6 looonnnngggg hours later, the surgeon reported the operation was a success. He was quite pleased with the results. Dad had feeling in his left foot, and blood flowing, it was pink and warm.

Dad was groggy, but we were allowed into the ICU to see him an hour or so later. He has a morphine pump, so it really didn't take him all that long to drift off to la-la land.

This morning at 7:30, the surgeon called us. The new vein had become clogged already. They didn't know what was causing it, but Dad was back to square one as far as circulation in his leg went. They were going to have to go in and operate again to see what was wrong and fix it. Since they didn't know what they were looking for exactly, it could take anywhere from an hour and a half to 7 hours. We were dressed and out the door by 7:45, driving through rush-hour traffic to a town over a half hour away. We pulled into the hospital parking lot at 8:05. Don't ask me how, I'm not sure I wanna' know.

We were able to see him for a few minutes before the OR called for him. He seemed in pretty good spirits, but maybe that was the morphine talking. He was in surgery for 4 hours today. Apparently, the new vein had become kinked, which works about as well as a kinked garden hose. The surgeon made sure there was extra room through the area that the vein was routed this time.

Dad's still on the morphine drip, he'll spend the next 24 hours on an antibiotic, the next 36-48 hours will be in ICU so they can keep a good eye on him. After that, the doctors will try to get him up and walking and into a regular room. He should come home sometime this weekend.

Thank you to everyone who has been praying for him, and for us. It's been a rough day today, much rougher than yesterday was, and it really helps to know that we're in so many people's thoughts and prayers.