Virtual Memories

Because I figure most of you readers aren’t logging in for news about my dad’s surgery, I’ve decided to put up a new blog about it. You can check in there for updates on his recovery and recuperation, while I fill this blog with its usual fare. Here’s the RSS feed for the site, so [...]

Dad got moved from the ICU upstairs to the regular cardiac ward today. The orderlies sorta dropped him into bed, which caused him immense amounts of pain, but he’s doing okay. His throat’s a mess, from the extended use of the breathing tube, so swallowing his pills has been tough. To put it bluntly, he’s [...]

Dad’s still got a little internal bleeding to deal with. I called the ICU this morning, and the nurse told me that they topped him off with another pint; she didn’t sound overly concerned about his condition, which I took as a good sign. His surgeon’s coming in later today to assess his condition and [...]

The 2pm visit was good. Dad’s been moved up into a chair, which will help his lungs drain. He’s pissed off, miserable and complaining, which we take as good signs, since it means he’s involved. His strongest emotional reaction came when his girlfriend told him that some guy named Constantine got booted off of American [...]

Just called the cardiac ICU: They said they got Dad’s internal bleeding to subside overnight, and are getting ready to pull his breathing tube! They’re in the process of bringing him up from the anesthesia, and he should be able to talk to us by the time the 9am visiting session starts (it’s about 8:15 [...]

Dad’s not out of the woods yet. He has internal bleeding that hasn’t ceased yet, so the cardiac staff’s not going to bring him out of anesthesia and off the respirator yet. This seems to fall within the parameters of what they’re used to in the ICU, but I was unable to handle the emotional [...]

Dad succesfully underwent a quintuple bypass this morning! The surgeon says that it went well. (Dad didn’t say anything, since he’s currently unconscious in the cardiac intensive care unit, but he oughtta be awake in a couple of hours.)Thanks again for all the support! (We’ll need it during his rehab/recuperation)

Today was a lot better. Dad was in better spirits, despite his unerring ability to make The Wrong Comment (“They got me a single room, here on Death Row”), and all of us had gotten a bunch of much-needed rest. I spent a few hours with him and his girlfriend at the hospital. A third [...]

Following a scary missed (and mis-)diagnosis by his cardiologist last week, my dad had an angiogram this morning; he has 100% blockage of three arteries in his heart. He’s having a bypass performed on Wednesday. I haven’t done much eating or sleeping these past few days, and I sure won’t be doing any blogging till [...]

Because of family health issues, I’m not going to be able to post anything for the next few days.