saturday morning update

Hello all. Computering isn't convenient from the hospital, let me tell you. By the time I got to my motel room the last couple of nights, I was just too pooped. And, I'm sharing my room with my dad's wife so it isn't easy to set up that way either.

Anyway, my dad is in his own room - we lucked out and he got a private room. He is much weaker and in much more pain than he was after the bypass surgery. For this type of aneurysm surgery they pretty much take out all of your "stuff" and lay out on the table next to you while they put in the new aorta. He had to have a bit larger one that went down to where the arteries for his legs branch off. Anyway, they put your stuff back in but it goes into shock sort of or "sleeps" as the nurses say. This type of surgery is much harder to recover from. His insides are still asleep today. He has a tube going through his nose down to his stomach draining bile and stuff, so he can't even have ice chips yet or a sip of water. His mouth and throat are very dry and it is hard for him to talk. He actually has tubes all over the place draining and filling up different parts. He dozes most of the time, we are here to help him suck out the yuck from his mouth and wipe the insides with cool wet sponge-cicle things and help communicate with whoever asks him questions - he doesn't hear very well - and help when his IV gets a kink in it cuz he bent his arm too much (they showed us how to fix it), etc - those are the little things. He will have the epidural a couple of more days at least. His pulse is weak and faint in one foot so we are waiting for the doctor to come and make sure nothing collapsed due to that new branch off the aorta - that is the worry today but we feel pretty good that it is okay - his foot is much warmer today.

I've read all the comments below and you brought tears to my eyes - you are all so kind and I gain so much strength and a smile, maybe soggy, but a smile from your loving caring messages. My computer battery is almost out of juice and right now not in a place I can plug in. Pam - I've been sleeping with my teddy bear for good luck and sweet dreams (along with a little help from xanax that I am only taking at night to settle down and go to sleep). Love to you all! Maybe in a day or two I can write about something more fun than all of this!

Marsha