Is there some place to get hourly updates on Big Dog?

[Catherine Vincent]

I need to know how he's doing. He's the best!:-)

[Boredtodeath]

1. Don't know a place, but

Having been through it, I can pretty much describe what is going on right now.

They are getting him out of bed and moving as much as possible.

More than likely, the cuts in his leg where they removed the vein to use for the bypass is more painful than his chest but they are stressing that he needs to put weight on the leg and move.

He probably has a surgical cut just below the knee on his leg and again at his ankle which hurt like hell when he puts weight on them. But they no longer cut open the whole leg to get the vein they need (which is good).

The most difficult thing for him right now is getting in and out of bed because it pulls on the chest muscles and hurts like hell getting up or down. They have him hold onto a pillow and roll to one side before sitting up. He's learning about muscles he never knew he had in his chest.

Tonight or tomorrow they'll ask him to start walking laps around the nurses' station for exercise so they can observe him.

He's on light pain meds if he needs them.

He's on the road to recovery and likely to go home in a day or two. (When he can do something seemingly foolish like 4 laps around the nurses' station unassisted.)

[Catherine Vincent]

2. Thanks for that.

Sorry you had to go thru all that pain but what has to be done, has to be done. Glad that you are doing better and I am sure Big Dog will get better too.

[Boredtodeath]

3. Not me personally, my SO

I was just an observer (thank goodness!) and offered a lot of moral support and my shoulder to help get out of bed.

My SO still says "the surgery was the easy part (I was out like a light) but the recovery sucks!"

[Unperson 309]

4. And Then There's The Wired Together Sternum!

In open heart surgery, they have to cut through the center of the breastbone and hinge it open to get to the heart. When they have reepared the heart, they then put the patient back together. The sternum is fastened together with surgical wire and then the incision is closed.

That breastbone hurts like HELL when the patient coughs, which s/he is encouraged to do as frequently as possible to avoid contracting pneumonia. The bone ends, although wired together pretty firmly, tend to grate a bit and shift and it's a sensation like none other.

Best thing to do (I used to always advise my patients this) is to get a firm flattish pillow, teddy bear, or other item, hold it as firmly to the chest as you can and brace yourself as you cough. The Big Dog is very likely quite uncomfortable, just now, but hopefully they have him on good pain relief and he's got a good attitude about it all.

What the family needs to know (and the patient, too) is that bypass curterh affects the body, but most importantly, the MIND! A meed cooperative patient may become irascible and assertive, a bold person may become fearful, and scariest of all (this happened to a dear friend of mine) sometimes even politics change!

I shit you not! Guy I knew was an anarchist, dyed-in-th4e-=wool red diaper baby, about as far left as one could go. After his heart surgery, he freakin' FLIPPED! He ended up a right wing, button-wearing, narrow minded repuke! I was absolutely gobsmacked! He voted for Pat Buchanan in the elction and regularly got into fistfights with liberals on the bus! I warned him that if he continued on, I would cut him off, completely as I had NO desire to be punched out by the guy. He kept on and I dropped him like a hot potato! Last I heard, he weas working in the current Boosh campaign! Completely bonkers!

OTOH, I saw a fellow (my father in law) who was sweet, sensible, home-loving and practical, get involved with a floozie, sell his house, throw OUT all the family photographs, genealogical records, and heirlooms, and disinherit his only child, his daughter when he hitcherd up with the golddiger! She took him for every cent! I savbed what I could from the wreckage, but I knew I was licked when he put a sterling silver tea tray out for the garbage man! I rescued it and the rest of the heirloom silver (over 5K worth!) but while I was busy with that, he threw out several oil paintings, hand carved Japanies shojii screens and probably about half a million bucks worth of stuff! Just threw it out! Heart bypass surgery can drive a sane person whacko and I don't have a clue as to WHY!

So yeah, the Big Dog may not be out of the woods for at least a year!

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