I am making this due to my dad now being transferred to UVA and we will need to take time off to be with him before and after surgery.
On June 3rd dad had a procedure that was supposed to be to evaluate the severity of his heart disease and discuss stent placements at a later date. Dad was done pretty quickly and we got to go back to see him. I didn’t want to believe what he said so we patiently waited for the doctor to come in. He told us dad would have to undergo open heart surgery within bypass. He said he would be consulting with several surgeons to see if they would take dad’s case and if not he would have no option but to place stents which is a very high risk procedure due to his condition and everything placing the stents would involve. Dad had a 95% blockage on one side of his heart and a 30%-35% blockage on the other. The doctor pretty much said he was a ticking time bomb and would need to admit him to be monitored and go through dialysis, Heparin therapy and getting his other blood thinners and medications out of his system before they could even do the surgery. He will have to go through dialysis tomorrow and if his body does not tolerate it with his blood pressures, then he would need to be moved from PCU to ICU for a slow continuous dialysis. The cardiac surgeon came in to see him this evening and is taking his case!! While I am scared to death, im thinking positive, his surgery is supposed to be Monday! Surgery will take about 4-5 hours, they will not wake him up after the surgery and will go straight up to ICU, he will be on a breathing machine, still sedated until Monday night then they will wake him up slowly. He will be in the hospital until surgery and possibly up to a week afterward with a month of recovery at home. His cardiologist consulted with the surgeon here at Sentara and that surgeon would not take dad’s case because of dad’s health issues with his lungs and wasn’t sure if dad would come off the ventilator. They are transferring him to UVA as of 6/9 to see if the surgeons there will take his case. If they are not able to do the open heart surgery, they will go through his leg and takes the risk of also losing his leg. That procedure is more of a risk than the open heart surgery. I apologize for the long read. I will continue to post updates along the way.
