Post-op

Hey. A quick note about Dad, in case you're coming here looking for more information about his heart bypass this past Monday.

Dad is doing great. They moved him from the ICU to an intermediate care room today. They did four bypasses on Monday morning. We got to see him at 1:00 and the next couple hours were pretty rough as he was coming out of the anesthesia and suffering with the breathing tube. He did an amazing job of using charade moves, sign language, and a note pad to communicate and let us help him with the cramping in his back (from the ribs being spread) and phlegm in his throat.

Things got much better once he was extabated and the pain meds were administered more regularly. We left him Monday night resting comfortably and, indeed, he got some good rest.

By Tuesday he was sitting up in a chair, and even made his first walk (see below). Today has involved three (soon to be four) more walks, and the removal of the drainage tubes they'd inserted below his chest.

I can't even tell you how impressed I have been with his courage and determination. For a 67 year old man who has never been treated in a hospital before, he's a model patient.

I went up on Sunday night and came home after his first walk on Tuesday. Amy's mom drove in to help out around the house, as the hospital was not going to be a place for little bodies at the beginning of this week. Owen got to talk to Grandpa after his surgery on Monday evening though, even singing him "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star," which was very sweet.

Everyone is eager to see him next week for Thanksgiving!

If you want regular updates, check out his site at http://www.caringbridge.org/. Enter leonaalberts, and you can leave him a note and get updates on his care.