6 bypasses for my dad this afternoon - stressed

[spanky]

Just saw this now rocky. Still posting ++++vibes for a speedy recovery for your dad.

[GT40]

Hey Rock. Glad to hear your father came through well last night.

But it's not about how long we live, but it's about the quality of time we have spent together, and will spend together in the future.

I know your fam has done very well so far in making many lasting memories. This bypass experience will help even more, to make the time you have together even more important. So go out and have a million more great adventures together.

We all need to let the people close to us know often, how we feel about them. We all pass on at some point. But if we've spent our time here right, then there are no regrets.

[jibij]

So great that they found this in time and sounds like the surgery went well. Best of luck to your Dad!

[Karl Stall]

Hopefully, this is about the last update I need to make before this thread drifts into obscurity. They are moving him out of the ICU this afternoon and I will get to see him for the first time with his improved ticker. As many have mentioned, it is sure good that they discovered this and did something about it now rather than the alternative.

Also, thanks to those of you who called and emailed me - awesome friends.

Finally, here is a picture of us taken two summers ago in AK - looking forward to more times ahead.

[truth]

Good stuff KS, glad the old man is on the mend bro.

[freshie247]

Good news R,

Sounds like he'll be out & about in no time!

[Powder Seeker]

Wishing you and your dad the best! Hopefully he will be up and at it in no time!

[MeatPuppet]

Anyway, thanks for reading this - I know he'll be a champ and hope that this post is moot by this evening. Sorry to be a worrier.

I hope all turns out well. My best friend's father-in-law had the samething happen to him. He came through the surgery just fine. It's been 5+ years and he's still going strong.

Best of wishes.

[lph]

glad everything went well, KS! Hopefully you will guys will be fishing again in no time.

[Helicrackjnky]

Glad to hear he is doing well left you a few Voice Mails! Vibes sent give a call when you can!

[Karl Stall]

Sorry for the continuing diary entries. Helicrack, Thanks for the voice mails - I have been all over will call tonight if possible.

Anyway, saw him for the first time post-op, talked for 45 minutes and he was like a champ, lucid, smiling, etc., then it came time for him to move back to the bed from the chair.

They sent in the b-team, non-RN, sweet-but-incompetent gal, and, man, I have never seen anyone in that much pain in my life. He was friggin shaking, trembling, hyperventilating, and I thought that might be it right there. I hated to see him like that, but I held my emotions in (not easy for me) and made jokes, whatever I could do to keep him from being scared.

The RN came in, gave him meds, which were long overdo, and he calmed down, my mom showed up and things stabilized. Everyone said that the recovery would be the toughest and that is turning out to be true, of course.

I think I am going to take the girls to see him in the morning. Is that a bad idea? Will they be traumatizd by that if he is o.k.? bad idea? Any advice, as always, is greatly appreciated. Thanks, all

[lph]

tough call. If you spoke to him for 45 minutes, that means he could almost certainly handle seeing your girls.

great thing about kids, they might be a little freaked at first, but more than likely once they start talking to him, they will treat him just like they always have.

when you are sick, just out of a big operation and feel like you got hit by a truck, you need your rest, but you also want to see the people you love, you want them close to you. You also want to be treated like yourself. Know what i mean? that is why kids and dogs are great they have the ability to forget about mortality, adults don't.

ask your dad. if he says yes, bring them. keep a close eye and when he gets tired let the girls know it is time to go.

my .02cents.

[EPSkis]

KS ~ First off, glad to hear your Dad's doing better ~ that's the important thing.

edit: After having typed a paragraph out, I realized that you already know the answer to your question. If your Dad wants the girls to come in - absolutely bring them in. Take the opportunity to explain to the girls that Gramps is doing fine *because* he went to the Doctor. IMO, kids only fear the unknown. They'll have questions before, during and after their visit. Offer honest explanations & you'll remove those fears. Of course - you know your girls best.

Cheers to Dad's continued health, R...

[Cono Este]

Good thing they caught it early, he will be we stonger than ever. My uncle was back on his bike in no time after his. Seasons greetings from Wildwood.

[Karl Stall]

took the girlies to see him this morning, and it worked wonderfully. They were chill and it meant a lot to him. he is hopefully getting better and better.

[splat]

Visualize the healing, Karl, and get your pops to do it as well.
Glad to hear he made it.

[LAN]

They sent in the b-team, non-RN, sweet-but-incompetent gal, and, man, I have never seen anyone in that much pain in my life. He was friggin shaking, trembling, hyperventilating, and I thought that might be it right there. I hated to see him like that, but I held my emotions in (not easy for me) and made jokes, whatever I could do to keep him from being scared.

The RN came in, gave him meds, which were long overdo, and he calmed down, my mom showed up and things stabilized. Everyone said that the recovery would be the toughest and that is turning out to be true, of course.

Dang R, that stinks. A couple of ideas for you. I imagine your Dad is pretty sore between the actual incision itself, plus all the tinkering they did while they were in there. My motto when I take care of patients and even scoober after his surgery was this: it's impossible to take away all of the pain, but I'm going to do my best to make sure that it's as comfortable and tolerable as it can be under the circumstances.

I imagine that the getting back to the chair experience was so miserable because he was undermedicated. It seems like a lot of people worry about being oversedated/overmedicated, but in most cases, they're not getting enough. Hopefully one of the nurses has caught on to this plan, but if not, next time your Dad's going to get up/move/walk, tell him to get on the call light a good 30+ minutes beforehand. If he's up in the chair for exercise or dinner, tell him to make sure he has meds before he goes back to bed. Now I'm rambling ... but I think you get the point. Poor guy - I'm sorry that happened.

[ole2planker]

mom and dad met in the lunchline at the Aspen Sundeck in 1965, which is pretty cool.

That is way cool.

Glad it was caught early and that surgery went well.

[crashnburn'd]

That is way cool.

Yeah it is... My parents met skiing at Indianhead, MI. Not quite Aspen, but I guess it worked out well for me.

Glad everything went (and is going) well.

[HyRUPz]

Update?

Hope the Hal-inator is doing well. One of the kindest guys I've ever met and a true self made success. Simply, Hal Sr. is the man.

All my best to him and Carol, Coonpup ... tell them my prayers are with them and trust I will see them soon.

Cheers - F

[Tippster]

Missed this thread the first time around. I hope everything turned out as it should, and eagerly await an update from KS.

[Karl Stall]

Thanks for asking. He is recovering pretty well. He was in the office for about 3-4 hours the last couple of days, although he is not allowed to drive yet. This morning he actually has his rehab evaluation.

Sure sign that he is on the mend is that he is back on the phone constantly, which is something that I'd like for him to leave behind but I guess that as he says, " people never change, they just become more so".

Anyway, thanks to all who have expressed their support for my family, both here and the lurkers who called and asked about it off-line.
\
I told him about the kind sentiment here and he was psyched to hear that my online skier friends are such good peeps.

Best,
Rock

[Aldo]

All the best for a smooth recovery my man. My pops has had a couple recent heart attacks and bypasses in his early 70's. It's a tough thing to face, but so many people do, and continue to live life to the fullest. Case in Point Aldo Senior calls me daily from Summit county to tell me how much snow they've had so far...

Vibes!

[Dodger]

Missed this first time around - was trying to teach my 12yr old daughter to ski (lot of patience needed - she's very cautious, not sure where that came from). Really glad that everything is working out well and you made it through the crisis. Must have been almost overwhelming. Hoping that improvement continues steadily.

(PS thanks for yr recent PM - will definitely bear it in mind if I'm in the area).

[Monique]

Glad to hear your Dad's doing well. It's so hard to watch them slide back into work or diet habits that are worrisome...the thing that's worked best with my Dad is for me to say out loud, often, how personally I take his choice of behaviors that will/won't help prevent another heart attack. A full eye-contact "I do not want to lose you" is pretty compelling stuff. I'm glad your Dad has you around caring about him.