A very long day...
The surgery took about twice as long as originally estimated (8 hours instead of 4) because mom's veins are not so good (from years of diabetes) and the blockage was a bit more extensive than original tests had shown. There was some tearing of the heart wall that caused the initial work to get more complex to correct and initiated the need for full bypass in the first place. We saw her as they rolled her from surgery to the ICU, and she had approximately 8 IV pumps and another dozen tubes still in her along with the breathing tube for the ventilator. It is hard to get a read off the surgeon, but it seemed like the surgery was touch-and-go but turned out ok in the end. Her heart is beating better than it was before thes surgery, so she is likely to have better function in the long run than she's had in a few years.
I left to take cuddlyeconomist to the airport for her flight back to Seattle while my dad, Meredith, and Todd waited a little while for her to be settled in the ICU. They went in for a few minutes, saw her, and then left for the night. They are going to keep her on the ventilator late into the night and so she won't even be conscious until the morning. We’ll be going back to visit her then.
Dad is visibly in much better spirits tonight, although getting her off the ventilator is the next hurdle. Assuming she has no sign of bleeding tonight--which would necessitate another surgery--and is breathing on her own by morning, we can safely say this episode is behind us. The recovery has its own complications including a risk for pneumonia and arrhythmia, but both can be treated with drugs.
I left to take cuddlyeconomist to the airport for her flight back to Seattle while my dad, Meredith, and Todd waited a little while for her to be settled in the ICU. They went in for a few minutes, saw her, and then left for the night. They are going to keep her on the ventilator late into the night and so she won't even be conscious until the morning. We’ll be going back to visit her then.
Dad is visibly in much better spirits tonight, although getting her off the ventilator is the next hurdle. Assuming she has no sign of bleeding tonight--which would necessitate another surgery--and is breathing on her own by morning, we can safely say this episode is behind us. The recovery has its own complications including a risk for pneumonia and arrhythmia, but both can be treated with drugs.