update

sorry for the delay in posting an update on my dad. things were a little crazy for the last few days. i am now back in colorado springs, and settled back in a little.

i made it up to cleveland very late on monday night. On Tuesday my dad had a cardiac catheterization to get a really good look at the heart in preparation for the surgery. I have to say i was incredibly impressed with the Cleveland Clinic. It is a beautiful facility, and the staff was competent and well prepared. plus i have to hand it to a medical staff that still wears 100% white from head to toe...even in the operating room! I must say i rely heavily on my dark green scrubs to hide a little stain here and there....i don't think i could last 5 minutes in all-white uniform!!!!

anyway, the surgery itself was Thursday morning, bright and early. The surgeon started at about 0830, and we were thrilled when our little pager went off 5 hours later letting us know Dad was out of the O.R. The surgeon felt everything went very well. He was quite suprised to find that when my dad had his original surgery in 1960 to repair his congenital anomaly, there was no Pulmonic Valve placed at all. He believes some sort of patch was placed in the place the valve would have normally been. He said that more modern medicine uses a human valve, but it appeared that possibly a portion of a vein was placed in the region. This "patch" had completely calcified and scarred over the last 50 years, and he had quite a challenge dissecting out the old tissue and placing the new valve. The aortic aneurysm was repaired without complication.

They were unable to get dad off the ventilator after the surgery, so he remained intubated overnight in the ICU. The next day he was able to be extubated, and initially did very well. He was on his way out of the ICU last night, when he developed a complication called Atrial Fibrillation. basically, the atrium of the heart is not in synch with the ventricles of the heart. This is actually not uncommon after heart surgery, and my dad has a history of developing intermittent A Fib. So, that has kept him in the ICU a little longer. It is not a serious complication, but is better managed in the ICU where they can keep a closer eye on him.

Overall i was really happy with how well everything went. His doctors were very kind, and well prepared, and we had overwhelming support from family and friends. Thank you so much to everyone who has kept my dad in their prayers over this last week. It was very comforting in the scary and stressful times to have words of encouragement from those who care about us. He definately has a long recovery ahead of him, and may continue to encounter roadblocks in his recovery, but i am thankful that the surgery was a success, and glad i was able to be with my family during this time (special thanks to my fabulous husband who didn't blink an eye at taking care of the girls all week....you seriously rock!)