Careless Posted June 12, 2008 Share Posted June 12, 2008 Hey Z'ers and Z'ettes. my pops has just been sent to St. Michaels hospital to undergo a triple-bypass surgery. He's been waiting on it for about a week now, and they finally found an open time-frame. Wish him luck! (and take care of yourselves!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buma Posted June 12, 2008 Share Posted June 12, 2008 Good Luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Globerunner513 Posted June 12, 2008 Share Posted June 12, 2008 He'll be in my prayers out here. Hope he has a speedy recovery! Let us know how it goes eh? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RayG1988 Posted June 12, 2008 Share Posted June 12, 2008 Hope everything goes well Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gareth Posted June 12, 2008 Share Posted June 12, 2008 I'll keep my fingers crossed! I know how it feels when your dad is being operated - my dad had three brain surgeries in Jerusalem... Hope everything goes ok. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators RTz Posted June 12, 2008 Administrators Share Posted June 12, 2008 One super-sized dose of luck on the way! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woldson Posted June 12, 2008 Share Posted June 12, 2008 Prayers sent. Is this his frist and how old is this fellow? Has he ever been under before? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Careless Posted June 13, 2008 Author Share Posted June 13, 2008 He's 63, looks 53. He was treated for kidney stones about 5 years ago, and now his bad eating habits and lack of exercise have caught up with him, so today during the morning or afternoon (could be happening right now), he's going to undergo surgery. He needs a dog or something Thanks for the luck everyone! I'mma bag it and bring it to 'em! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Careless Posted June 13, 2008 Author Share Posted June 13, 2008 Just got word that the High Pressure line transplant went successful and the pump is operating in safe recovery mode! THANKS HybridZ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cygnusx1 Posted June 13, 2008 Share Posted June 13, 2008 Nice! Speedy recovery. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swbooking Posted June 14, 2008 Share Posted June 14, 2008 Nice! Glad to hear that! Hope his recovery goes well! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Six_Shooter Posted June 14, 2008 Share Posted June 14, 2008 Triple bypass?! So what exactly is a tripple bypass then? Good to hear it went well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Careless Posted June 14, 2008 Author Share Posted June 14, 2008 Triple bypass?! So what exactly is a tripple bypass then? Good to hear it went well. If you have bad eating habits and fill yourself with high cholesterol food, the valves near your heart start to pull in some heavy clumps of cholesterol that build up much like calcium around faucets and shower heads. The pressure leaves the cholesterol behind and it gets hard and forms plaque inside the main arteries that feed the heart it's blood. The blood cannot pass through the plaque, or can break off and stutter the heart valve in it's motion, and cause damage, because the heart is a delicate organ and sudden shock can make the heart have muscle spasms. My father's arteries were clogged for a week until he said "something's not right, i'll take it easy for the rest of the week and go to the doctors on monday", but my mom told my brother to drive him to the hospital ASAP, and they were clogged. So you have a number of arteries going to your heart. 4 I believe. If you have a triple bypass, they use a vein in your leg that is of no real need down there, and they use that vein as a replacement hose. they stop the heart from beating using a special vaccum/pressure device, and they hook up the blood circulation system to the device to continue the hearts job. The heart is then separated from the arteries and the new replacement vein is patched in... much like replacing brake lines. Three were replaced here, thereby making it a triple-bypass. Then the heart is slowly revived and the leaks are sealed immediately. Then the chest cavity is sealed up once the heart is back in place, and then it's stitched and the patient is sent to ICU. Alternatively, you can have an angioplasty which widens the artery temporarily using a balloon or something like that if it's just a clot of cholesterol. A problem with this proceedure, as well as a camera-drill procedure is that a piece of hard plaque can break off, cause a heart stutter, or be pumped straight through and enter the brain, causing brain damage. In order to inspect the heart valves, a camera is sent in via a vein in the leg, and all the way up to the heart. This is the same entry point and camera used in the drill-bit procedure, except it has a rotary attachement that pokes the plaque to remove it from the arterial walls. So yah, its a lengthy procedure. Bout 6 to 10 hours. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Careless Posted June 14, 2008 Author Share Posted June 14, 2008 Just found out it was actually a quadruple bypass, with a minor complication with one of the arteries being sucked into the heart just a touch, but it was successfully reversed and repaired as well. =) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators BRAAP Posted June 14, 2008 Administrators Share Posted June 14, 2008 Glad to hear he is doing well. Thanks for the update. While reading your description of the procedure, muscles were tightening all over my body, full body chills, etc. I have been squeezing so tight that my chair is now stuck to my…. Keep us posted on his progress. Take care, Paul Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Careless Posted June 14, 2008 Author Share Posted June 14, 2008 Glad to hear he is doing well. Thanks for the update. While reading your description of the procedure, muscles were tightening all over my body, full body chills, etc. I have been squeezing so tight that my chair is now stuck to my…. Keep us posted on his progress. Take care, Paul LOL. I was gonna refrain from posting all that info but I thought... you know, if someone wants to avoid what my dad went through, I believe they have to rethink what causes the issue and what it costs for someone to have this type of surgery. I know that in Canada, the health care covers this procedure but it costs about 10,000 dollars here to perform. In the US it's 20,000 dollars. And I'm not sure what's covered there. Sooooooooooo.. while the operation is about 98% successful for those who are deemed operable, and not so successful for those who just have the money to do it anyway, I'm asking all of us to watch how we take care of ourselves and the people we care about. My brother is a little upset, as am I. We both know that my father won't change his habits, and will probably still eat the stuff he's been eating. They're just family recipes that my mother has been cooking for over 40 years. Nothing you can do about that, and my mom isn't very teachable. So I think I'm going to have to force my brother to step up and throw the bad stuff in the garbage before they eat it rather than just yell at them while they're doing so. I'm going to visit him tomorrow as he's all drugged up and probably looks like hell right now. And he's probably reliving the 60's with all the drugs he's got in him (I got him 8mm tape somewhere doing some things he shouldn't be doing!) I'll update as he gets better =) Thanks for the good luck, everyone Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bschiltz Posted June 14, 2008 Share Posted June 14, 2008 Speedy recovery. My grandfather had a quad bypass about a month and a half ago so I know how nerve racking it can be waiting for news. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Careless Posted June 15, 2008 Author Share Posted June 15, 2008 yeah especially when my brother and mother keep me out of the loop. :-/ gonna go visit him tomorrow, since it's father's day and all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Challenger Posted June 15, 2008 Share Posted June 15, 2008 Hope your dad recovers quickly. My grandpa has had some heart issues for the last 20 years, he continually has heartattacks where his heart completely stops. If he had addressed it earlier (they dont believe in doctors) hed be fine. Its kind of been a example for me to try and stay healthy and in shape. You really want to take care of your heart. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Careless Posted June 16, 2008 Author Share Posted June 16, 2008 yeah, you really gotta take care of yourself, never too late. As for my father, i visited him today in cardiovascular Intensive Care Unit. He looks like he's not comfortable at all. My mom is a trooper for staying there with him for 6 hours today. During the operation, a lot of mucous and saliva is gravity fed into the lungs because of the drugs pumped into the body... the muscles cant naturally control the flow of the substances the body produces. His lungs are now filled with some mucous and saliva. So there's this very uncomfortable machine that they hook your mouth up to. It's a mask that is strapped to your face much like a regular breathing apparatus, only it forces air into your lungs under pressure. This is because the mucous and water in the lungs tend to pull the lung together and cause it to collapse because of the "stiction" of the mucous in some cases. So they use this thing to pressurize his lungs to make them expand, and let the natural breathing take it's course to aid in the release of the mucous in there. The nurse said he tried the machine and said it's quite uncomfortable, and i had to hold my fathers hand so he wouldn't remove it from his face. He had to have it for 2 hours. Then they put a vacuum tube in his lung and sucked out the mucous that way too, but only after the lung has been expanded to a safe level. He then got the regular clean air mask, and started to feel calm, and fall asleep. A friend of a friend's uncle just had a bypass like this, and it took a couple of months to get all the mucous out, but eventually it happens. kinda sucks to see my dad like this, but hopefully he's learned his lesson soon enough. it's something I hope anyones loved ones go through. He's probably going to be in ICU for about 2 weeks, and then upstairs to the regular treatment rooms. I think it's going to be something like a 6 month recovery. He'll probably be home around 3 months from now. It's gonna be quite a battle but we have some good healthcare facilities here. I'll let you guys know when he's capable of putting a sentence together. His first sentence better have a Z in it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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