FA+
Shop
Mom in hospital for coronary bypass operation
13 years ago
Well, after knowing this was coming for several months, mom was finally checked into the hospital, the surgery itself will be performed on Monday, first thing in the morning.
It took a while for them to plan it b/c they needed to be sure her wound from the leg-amputation had healed well, and if there weren't any complications from the intestinal surgery she had undergone, either. Damn, typing it like this and keeping in mind all this happened in about six months' time is just...blagh. Even people at the hospital are commenting on our apparent stroke of particularly bad luck.
That said, fortunately this seems to be the least risky procedure mom has to undergo, and (hopefully) finally the last. Doctors have done a ton of tests, both at an earlier date and today, and overall mom's in better shape than they had thought. Her leg healing well (and almost amazingly quickly) is a good sign, and her blood-vessels (while damaged due to lifelong diabetes) also came out of the test better than they had expected.
The hospital she's in specialises in heart-surgery, and they do about 2000 - 3000 bypasses a year. Apparently, if you NEED to have heart-surgery, bypass is the 'best' since it's actually quite routine. Expectations are that mom will be back in the physical rehabilitation centre before next week is over :)
While we're still really nervous, we've spoken to a lot of people who have undergone similar surgeries. A lot (if not most) of them were both older than mom when they got the surgery done, and were in much worse shape besides - so we're quite confident that it'll go well and we can finally leave a rather crappy time in our lives behind us.
All that said though, everyone who wants to send their best wishes, feel free! They're quite welcome (you can never have enough of those) and I'll be sure to relay them. :)
Will post further journals on Monday, most likely - mom should be out of the Operating Room around noon, give or take an hour, and then we're allowed on the ICU/recovery to see her for a bit (even though she'll likely still be out at the time).
It took a while for them to plan it b/c they needed to be sure her wound from the leg-amputation had healed well, and if there weren't any complications from the intestinal surgery she had undergone, either. Damn, typing it like this and keeping in mind all this happened in about six months' time is just...blagh. Even people at the hospital are commenting on our apparent stroke of particularly bad luck.
That said, fortunately this seems to be the least risky procedure mom has to undergo, and (hopefully) finally the last. Doctors have done a ton of tests, both at an earlier date and today, and overall mom's in better shape than they had thought. Her leg healing well (and almost amazingly quickly) is a good sign, and her blood-vessels (while damaged due to lifelong diabetes) also came out of the test better than they had expected.
The hospital she's in specialises in heart-surgery, and they do about 2000 - 3000 bypasses a year. Apparently, if you NEED to have heart-surgery, bypass is the 'best' since it's actually quite routine. Expectations are that mom will be back in the physical rehabilitation centre before next week is over :)
While we're still really nervous, we've spoken to a lot of people who have undergone similar surgeries. A lot (if not most) of them were both older than mom when they got the surgery done, and were in much worse shape besides - so we're quite confident that it'll go well and we can finally leave a rather crappy time in our lives behind us.
All that said though, everyone who wants to send their best wishes, feel free! They're quite welcome (you can never have enough of those) and I'll be sure to relay them. :)
Will post further journals on Monday, most likely - mom should be out of the Operating Room around noon, give or take an hour, and then we're allowed on the ICU/recovery to see her for a bit (even though she'll likely still be out at the time).
Thanks for your well-wishes :) *hugs*
And thanks for the well-wishes, I'll relay them :)