Saturday, December 27, 2008

Uncle Dave's Surgery Updates

I'll keep a running update of Dad's status here in the comments over the next few days. Here's what has happened so far:

On Christmas eve, my mom heard dad making strange noises in his sleep (aside from the usual strange noises), and after elbowing him and yelling at him, realized he wasn't breathing. She got up and pounded on his chest and yelled at him some more and called 911. He wouldn't wake up for about 5 minutes, after which he appeared to have some type of seizure for another few minutes. When that was over, he woke up and was surprised to see my mom standing over him with paramedics and police rushing up the stairs. He walked out to the aid car by himself, and after tests at the hospital, the doctor thinks that his heart probably stopped for a few minutes.

Yesterday an angiogram revealed that his heart will require either a triple or a quadruple bypass. Due to other health concerns, this will not happen until at least Tuesday, maybe Wednesday. I'll keep posting here as we know more to make it easier to get the word out.

Other than the whole almost dying thing, he feels fine, and is anxious to be up and walking around. The nurses keep on telling him to get back in bed. If anyone wants to talk to him, call Swedish hospital (206-320-2000) and ask to be transferred to his room.

15 comments:

Muriel said...

I'm commenting now so that I can be e-mailed when up post something. Tell Dave we love him and we are praying for your family.

Nick said...

No updates today. He's still doing fine- the nurses say that he's not exactly their highest priority since he is the healthiest patient on the floor. The surgery may be as early as Tuesday, but they said not to be surprised if it is not until Friday.

Nick said...

Surgery probably on thursday, maybe friday.
He's looking better than he has in years, and says he feels better than he has in years too, probably from the diet they have him on. He even did some missionary work on the chaplain who came to visit him.

Nick said...

Surgery is now scheduled for tomorrow (Wednesday) at 11:00. I'll update during and after the surgery.

Nick said...

Oops- surgery at 8:30 a.m., should last until 1 or 2.

Nick said...

Surgery has started, and we are waiting here at the hospital playing games at the Starbucks here.

Nick said...

Doctor called with the first update- everything going fine. They're going to start him on the heart lung machine and start the grafts in a few minutes.

Nick said...

Surgery is over earlier than expected, which I guess is good news. We're waiting to see him now.

Nick said...

Talked to the doctor- the surgery went just about perfectly. He had a triple bypass, and is now just on the breathing machine until he starts breathing on his own. He should wake up in anywhere from 2-6 hours ideally.

Nancy Webb said...

Thank you so much Nick, I have really been tied to this blog today and Joe just called me so now I can go home and prepare for tonight. I am so grateful that it is over and will continue to pray for David and all of you. I love you all.

Grandma R. said...

Thanks for the updates. I am glad everything has gone as well as it has. We are all praying for Dave and all of your family. We love you all. Hang in there!

Grandma R. said...

Grandma R. is aunt Loralie by the way. Stands for Grandma Ricord.

Nick said...

We saw him, and he is slowly waking up, but is still heavily sedated and not very conscious. The nurses sent us home and said we can come back tonight when he is more lucid.

Nick said...

Mom talked to him this morning. He walked over to sit in a chair and is going to be moved out of ICU tonight. He asked for no visits since he's worried we'll accidentally say something funny and make him laugh, splitting his chest open.

Nick said...

Dad finally let us visit today. He looked completely normal, except for the scar on his ches which looked over a week old rather than a few days, and he was sitting in his chair watching football. He's been walking, and should be discharged on monday or tuesday.

This will be the last update since there's not much more to report.