6-16-09

We were finally able to see Dad last night two hours after the surgery. There were still some things that needed to be done so they only gave us five minutes and said we could come back in an hour. He wasn't able to talk to us because the tube that monitors the amount of oxygen entering his heart was still down his throat, but he was able to shake his head in response to our questions. He seemed to be doing ok although the leg where they pulled the vein was really bothering him and he was still freezing cold from the surgery. They have to warm up his body gradually so it was pretty tough to see him shaking so bad and not be able to do anything about it. The nurse said the tube would be removed by the next time we came to visit which would help him look a lot better and be able to communicate with us.

When we came back an hour later the tube was still down his throat, just a little disappointing. We were able to meet the nurse who would be watching over him through the night and found her very helpful in explaining the different things they were doing to him. She asked us if Dad was a calm man and we all smiled. She said she could tell he has a very calm nature about him by the way he was handling the tube down his throat. She said he was very cooperative with everything they asked him to do..that is until she told us she would be waking him up every few hours so he could sit up and let the fluids drain from his chest. I don't think he liked the idea of that because he started shaking his head ;).

We talked to the nurse this morning. She said they weren't able to take the tube out until 2:00. I guess Dad slipped her a note that said, "I hate this thing." She had a good laugh over that. She said he did really well through the night and that his spirits were high this morning. One day down!