Not the Kind of Readouts I Had in Mind…

A Big Decision…

On January 18th I decided to go ahead and turn my future and fortunes over to Dr. Aldo Rafael-Yarihuaman (aka Dr. Rafael), in hopes he could extend my life a year or two via bypass surgery. Three very narrow and very clogged arteries to my heart demanded it.

At present it’s looking like the right move, but there’s still a long and tedious route back to normal, or at least what is considered normal for an 80 year old. Average age for bypass patients is 68.5 years….

On the big day….

My daughter Molly picked me up at 4:30 in the morning and we were at Baylor hospital in Dallas by 5 am. After checking in, signing all the “I promise to pay” forms the anesthesiologist talked me through his part of the show, which was extensive. As if I wasn’t already apprehensive about the surgery he threw out the word “ventilator” and how I wouldn’t know when he inserted the tube down my throat. Before I could get out a few “buts” I was wheeled into the OR for slicing, dicing cutting and pasting (literally). I awoke seven hours later struggling to breathe because of the  tube down my throat. Thankfully it was quickly removed.

Tubes and more tubes…

The Docs immediately sent me to ICU where I spent the next two days in LaLa Land saying “shoot me up” or “where’s all that blood coming from” and “who took the pisser urinal?“. Next stop (day 3) was the 10th floor, the follow-up unit for cardiac patients, where you could relax a little and not have to look over your shoulder for kamikaze lab techs, nurse Ratchels, and where there were plenty of pissers urinals!

Now I don’t remember which day it was but after a shot of pain killer they decided they wanted to see my incision. I told them that keeping it covered for the next twenty years was probably the best option but I was overruled and they pulled off the vertical strip running down my front. Expecting something that called for a “double, no ice” I was pleasantly surprised to see a reasonably neat incision that was held together with glue!

Yay, glue!!!

Okay moving on…

After six days of doing the walker bit, butt exposed, looking like a Jack Nicholson crazed character I managed to coerce them into letting me go home. Initially I thought it might have been a mistake (dizziness and new pains) but after a home-cooked meal or two, a good night’s sleep and a good cup of coffee I was feeling much better. My schedule now has me seeing Dr. Rafael next Thursday and the rehab folks 3 days a week starting on the 8th.  I must remember to tell them that I’m not into anything that smacks of work or hard labor.

I was already working on a heart healthy diet prior to surgery but now straight ahead gooey cheeseburgers with fried onions will only be in my dreams. One big question for next week’s meeting – “when can I have red wine and how much?”

Understand…

I’m being rather cavalier and dealing with all this in a tongue in cheek fashion but it’s serious business and something every potential candidate/patient needs to think long and hard about. I could have opted not to do it and gone the medication route but that didn’t bode well given the extent of my blockages, and frankly I didn’t like being written off and told I was too old. Yes I’m 80 and yes I’m an old dude, but I’m not ready to pack it in. I’ve got things I want to do….

Going to take some time…

I’m hoping now to get my nose back into the thick of tekkie land and see what I can find and what I can find out. Bear with me however.  I still have pain and I’m limited, as in no driving for 4 to 6 weeks and no lifting anything heavier than a gallon of milk (same period of time).

Finally, thank you all for the well wishes, phone calls, cards, prayers and positive vibes. They mean a lot.

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