Greetings!

Mom and Nancy report that Dad seems somewhat better today compared with yesterday. He’s more responsive, his eyes are open more, and he occasionally furrows his brow in response to a question. He still responds most to Mom, but sometimes to Nancy and some of the nurses. He’s got more grip with his right hand (which is his dominant side) than the left, but can still move everything and wiggle both feet and toes, etc.

Mom and Nancy got to talk to Dr. Cane again. He did not seem discouraged. He will be there all night and is hoping they will remove the balloon machine and maybe even the ventilator. He encourages patience and letting the healing process take its course.

No mention of a fever (or possible pneumonia) today and mom said dad felt much warmer yesterday than today, so we’ll assume that the antibiotics are doing their job.

Keep those prayers coming.

Love, Cindy

Mom and Nancy got to visit Dad four times today.  He holds mom’s hand and can squeeze it and pinch it.  (She says he’s stronger with the right hand than the left.)  He also wiggles his toes when she asks.

However, he is not as responsive as the doctors and nurses would like, so he is still on the ventilator.  They want to be sure that when they remove it, he can stay off of it, and do the coughing and breathing exercises that will keep his lungs clear.

He also has a bit of a fever today, so they are worried about possible pneumonia and have started him on antibiotics (Cipro ?).  He also has xrays every day to check his lungs.

The update on the aneurysm is that it was on the left ventricle, which apparently does most of the work of the heart.  From what we understand, they had to go inside the ventricle to remove all the blood clots.

So, what before was billed as somewhat “routine” bypass surgery, is now being described by the staff as “extensive heart surgery”.  They also now seem more concerned about his age (81).  Even so, they are doing what they know to do for all of these issues and we all remain hopeful for a CAVU (clear and visibility unlimited) outcome.

Mom thanks all of you who have been sending your prayers.  We all feel them and appreciate the waves of positive energy washing over our family.

Love, Cindy

Mom just called the nurse, dad is sleeping and they are leaving the breathing tube in for now so he can rest easier thru the night. They will try to remove it in the morning. We will go there for 11am.

I’ll keep you posted. I need to get some sleep.

Love,

Nancy

Well here’s the scoop (as of 3:30pm ET):

Nancy said Dad looks pretty good given what he’s just been through.

Dr. Case filled in Mom and Nancy on the details:

They did the quadruple bypass using a vein from each leg, but the leg incisions were small.

They fixed the aneurysm. Apparently the ballooning of the aneurysm was pushing up against the heart and there were many blood clots in the heart that had to be removed. This was why the surgery took so long. The blood clots were also the cause of the low heart efficiency (30%) reported earlier.

Due to all of this work, he will be on something called a “balloon machine” for two to three days to help his heart pump blood. (Janet explained this machine as “a respirator for the heart”.)

They will wean him off the lung respirator over the next six hours.

Mom and Nancy will see him again one or two times yet today and then will go home for the night (they’ve been there since before dawn). Then they’ll go back tomorrow morning at 11. In the meantime, Mom can call anytime 24/7 for an update.

That’s all the news for now.

Cindy

Nancy just called (Monday, 1:15 pm ET) to say that Dad is out of surgery.  She and Mom will be able to see him in about 45 minutes, but will only be able to stay for 10 minutes.

The surgery started at 7 am.  No word on exactly what they did (triple or quad).

That’s all I know right now.

Keep those prayers coming,

Cindy (Lucinda)

Hi all,

Well, the surgeon (Dr. McGrath) finally met with mom and dad at 3:45 pm today!

The surgery is planned for 6:30 am on Monday the 12th. Mom and Nancy will be there by 6 am.

details from Nancy:

A team of 9 will operate headed by Dr. McGrath.

They will do a triple or quadruple bypass. They believe he has an aneurysm in one artery and have to deal with that first and that will determine if it is a triple or quad.

He was moved to room 4407 (bigger room) today.

The surgery will last at least 3 hours. He will stay at DeBorah 6-10 days then be moved to a rehab facility for at least one week.

NO defibrillator will be inserted! [Cindy's translation--the problems seem to be with the plumbing, not the electricity]

He is eating well and resting and is able to get out of bed and walk to the bathroom.

[additional details from Mom]

Apparently, Dad did indeed have a heart attack on Sunday. (He fell getting out of the bathtub, but refused to go to the emergency room.) Luckily, he had the appointment with a pulmonologist on Monday (the 5th) who determined that the problem was with the heart not the lungs and he was sent to the emergency room and then DeBorah.

[more from Cindy]

I’ve posted some additional info under Heart Info and Deborah & Doctor Info

Thanks to Carol Sue (from church) for visiting today, praying with dad and mom, and helping to expedite/demand the surgeon finally showing up and providing some answers.

Cindy

Here’s the latest from Nancy . . . [posted by Cindy]

Hello,

We are still waiting to hear from dad’s surgical team.
As per Dr. Maletsky, Dad is a good candidate, even at the age of 81. Yes, there are risks but he has a greater risk of having another heart attack if nothing is done.

Info. on the artery names: Right main artery completely blocked at the bottom rear of the heart. Severe blockage at the circumflex off the left main artery. additional blockage in the anterior descending artery. [NOTE from Cindy: see Heart Info]

His ejection fraction is 30% this number should be much higher.
He is resting comfortably and the nurses and doctor continually check on him. They have drawn blood several times to check that the counts are out of the “heart attack” zone. They need to be out of that zone so that they can do the surgery.
Dad is in good spirits, eating well and patiently waiting to speak with the surgeons.
We will keep you posted.

Prayers and patience,
Love,
Nancy

Mom and Nancy are currently waiting to talk to the surgeon about what type of surgery dad will have and when it will happen. Current guess-timate is Friday. Should know more later today.

One more blog update–apparently the popout menus don’t work with all browsers. If this is true for you, look below for “Popout Menus not working?”, click that, and you should see a standard list menu which will allow you to register and login.

More later,

Cindy

Dear Friends of the Radio Shack,

Shortly after the initiation of this blog, John (my dad) was admitted to DeBorah Heart and Lung hospital. Looks like he has some clogged arteries . . . more news later.

In the meantime, send your prayers for “clear sailing”.

Cindy

NOTE: I’ve reset the blog so that anyone can easily register and post comments. If you look to the left under USERS and choose REGISTER you will be asked for a username and email address. A password will be sent to you. Then you can login to the blog and post comments. If you have any trouble with any of this, follow the lucindadewitt link above and send me an email from there.

Finally, if you are one of the people dad “accidently” sent his blog username and password to, I’ve changed it. You’ll need to register under your own name.

Hi BLOG.. my first try at editing the box. Using

good old Radio Shack  WORDPRESS  johndewitt  Manage Visual

here goes