Cord Replacement

Someone mentioned to me they really didn't understand about the cord from my valve being replaced, so I'll attempt to explain it a bit. The cords are attached from the mitral valve to the lining of the heart, they work similar to the spring on a screen door, they allow the valve to swing into the lower chamber (Left Ventricle), but stops it from swinging into the upper chamber (Left Atrium). Because my Mitral Valve was prolapsed so severly, my Mitral Valve did swing partially into the upper chamber of my heart, this caused the cords to get stretched out to the point that it was no longer preventing the valve from swinging into the upper chamber. So Dr. Willekes made the decision to cut a cord and replace it with gortex so that the valve would stop at the proper point and hopefully prevent problems down the road.

What day is it?

Not going to work each day causes one day to be similar to the next, I hope I remember to put the trash out on trash day.
I didn't make it to the garden yesterday, Brianna called and her Mac computer died, so she needed to go to the Apple store and they gave her a new one. Since she was coming in, we ate dinner together, BLTs with the tomatoes coming from the garden, so that has to count for something. Given the choice of spending time in the garden or with my kids, the kids are going to win out every time. We are going to make an attempt to go out there again after Dawn gets out of work.
Dawn did allow me to drive to the lab today to get my blood drawn for testing, I drove a whole 2.9 miles round trip all by myself. Things are quiet around the house today, the neighbor kids aren't even chasing each other around, perhaps I'll each lunch and take a nap, doesn't that sound like a good idea?

Home Alone

First off I want to comment on things said regarding yesterday's picture. Those are bruises on my neck, not hickeys. And so what if I was sucking my gut in a little for the photo. On a related note, I do weigh 6 pounds lighter now than I did when I went in for the surgery, and I'm not real sure why.

Dawn went back to work today and left me on my own. I'm glad that they trust me being home by myself, Dawn called once to check on me and Brianna called a couple of times as well. Is today what I can expect to be a normal day for me? Wake up, enjoy a cup of coffee, make the bed, get dressed and take Buddy out for a walk, make me some breakfast (today's menu featured a three egg ham and cheese omelet, a side of Maple and Brown Sugar Cream of Wheat and a glass of orange juice), shave and shower. I haven't figured out what to do with the rest of my day yet, though I did finish reading "Saving Private Ryan" this morning. Dawn says I can't drive or ride my bike yet, once I get those liberties granted to me, I'm sure I'll head to the garden for some physical therapy and relaxation. She did promise that she'll take me to the garden this afternoon once she gets home from work. Not much else to report on, I still can't lift my right arm very high, and it hurts when I do. There are things I'd like to try to do, but I think I'd better wait until I'm healed a bit more and my strength is close to where it use to be.

Make it a good day, and I'll talk to you all later...

Photo Update *Warning*

I thought I'd throw a picture out there so you can sympathize with what Dawn gets to look at. As you can see, 11 days after surgery and the incisions are healing up pretty well. The bruising is actually getting a touch better, but it still looks a little nasty. The largest incision is the one by my nipple, it measures 3 1/2 inches in length. Modern medicine, isn't it wonderful.

On a more pleasant note, Dawn took me out on a walk today and we went about 2 1/2 miles. I was a little tired, but it felt so good to get out today it was so nice, not too hot and not too cool.

Hope all is well with everyone out there.

Monday Morning Update

I just thought I'd send out a quick update so people can tell how well I'm actually doing.

Dawn has taken me out to the garden a couple of times now, the first visit wasn't nearly as long as the second visit was, but it was very therapeutic. The second time we went out there, I set up my camp stool (wooden frame w/canvas seat type) to pick some peas. Things were going along just fine until one of the legs from the stool sunk into the dirt forcing it to spread further than it is designed to. Needless to say the canvas ripped and I ended up with my rear end on the ground. We ended up picking more jalapeno and banana peppers, better boy, roma and cherry tomatoes, beans and peas from our garden. I went over to Cramer's garden, and his "Italian Ice" tomatoes are getting ripe already, so I did swipe a couple of those. Once I'm getting around by myself and my "Italian Ice" tomatoes are ripe, if you know I'm going to be seeing you and you like cherry tomatoes, ask me to bring some along. These are about the size of a ping pong ball, yellowish white in color, and sweeter than your average tomato. I ordered these specifically from Burpee and grew them from seed, so they are my prize possession out of the garden this year. Next time I'm out there I may take a few pictures, but right now there are too many weeds for me to be proud of my garden.

Dawn brought me out on Thursay to join her Mom and brother Dave for lunch.

Other accomplishments include Dawn taking me to see the movie "Swing Vote" Friday night.

I've taken Buddy (my dog) on three walks all by myself now (Dawn does make me take the phone along just in case), the longest one being almost a mile long.

Went to an open house in honor of my neighbor Jean's 80th birthday on Saturday. It was perhaps a mile from our house, so Dawn let me drive home from there. I did hear about if when I turned left on a side street but failed to use my turn signal.

Sunday was a busy day, perhaps too busy, I'll have to wait to see how I feel today to be sure. I walked Buddy both in the morning and again in the evening. Went to church Sunday morning and walked up a couple of flights of stairs to the studio there instead of taking the elevator. We went to Dawn's Mom's house after church and I'm glad we did. Our nephew Ryan is heading to Toronto with his girlfriend Olga, so they stopped by before they headed east. Then we went to the garden and later on I walked up to the neighborhood grocery store to pick up a couple of things so we could have garlic, spinach pizza for supper. We like it, but because I'm not suppose to have too much of foods high in vitamin K because of one of the pills I'm on, Dawn had to skimp on the spinach on half the pizza. Then I took Buddy for a longer walk last evening (close to a mile) since the weather was a little cooler (I'm not suppose to be out walking if it is over 80). All these screwy rules they expect me to remember.

My weight has maintained or dropped each day (yes I have to keep a log of that as well).

I've had a couple of nurses visit me to draw some blood and check my incisions, but I don't think they are going to come back after Saturday's visit. Somehow they had my information screwed up with someone else, and they thought I was home bound, but that fiasco is a blog by itself.



Medically I'm on three pills a day is all. Coumadin which is a blood thinner, Toprol is a beta blocker for chest pain and high blood pressure and 81mg Asprin as a preventive measure. I can take Motrin and Tylenol for pain, but it has been tolerable. I think I've taken 3 Tylenol since I came home last week Wednesday.

I think my chest drainage hole has finally stopped oozing and it is now openly exposed. The rest of my incisions are healing up nicely. I have limited mobility in my right arm, it hurts to extend it over my head, I force it occasionally just because I like pain. Things on my right breast area are taking a while to heal, I tried to jog a couple of steps just to see how it felt, and it didn't feel good at all, as a matter of fact it hurt. So I know there is healing that needs to take place there yet. I'm kind of curious how torn up I am under the skin I am on my right side. I do the breathing thing fairly consistently, I'm suppose to do it every hour, but I don't think I'm that consistent with it.

I'm still not sleeping through the night yet, but now when I get up I'm able to go back a sleep without much trouble. One other thing I've noticed is that I'm starting to get stubbly growth back on my legs, chest, stomach and every where else Clifford shaved me, and it itches...



So that's where I am today, I can't tell if I have more energy yet or not because I have yet to experience what use to be a normal day for me. I definitely feel better than I did last week, and expect to feel even better next week.

Pictures *Viewer Discretion is Advised*

Posted by Brittney

Dad got home before 2 this afternoon; he called from home to let me know they got there safely. From reading his last couple posts, I know he was more than ready to get out of there. And I have a feeling the nurses were begging Dr. Willekes to release him already.

Now that he is home safely and doing much better, I thought it was time to post some pictures to give you the graphic truth of what we have all been looking at.

Let me remind you what he looked like just before going in:

That was 5:30 AM. This was him at 6:15 PM, three hours after his surgery was over.

Scary huh? That's what took so long for him to wake up, they had to wait until they could safely get the breathing tube (the big thick one) out of him.

This next one was taken Sunday night.

See the bluish line on his chest peaking out of his gown? The nurses drew that to mark his swelling. His face was all the way out there!

Finally, these are taken on Tuesday, looking much better.

Here's a shot of his battle wounds. Under his nipple, it looks like a wrinkle, but that's actually the incision. The major white tape under that is where his drainage tube was hooked in. The other smaller tape above it are other incisions I think. The one on his neck was a cath attempt. Notice the nasty bruising under his chin. It's also like that around the side. His chest is bruised too, and you can see where they had to relocate an electrode thing (the circle under the top left one). I think he accidentally ripped it off doing something (trying to escape?)

His arms are all sticky from the tape and the IVs, they gave him little swaps to wipe it off, but it was a lot of work. We think he should just shave his arms and get it all over with in one easy step. I don't think he'll go for that.

Now that he's home he'll have to get a picture of him happily roaming the house. He figured the blogging out without much assistance, we'll see about pictures.

Finally Home

I finally made it home about 1:30 this afternoon. Once home I walked to the mailbox to get the mail, helped Dawn bring a few things in and then called my girls to let them know I was home. Buddy I think was a little mad at me for being gone so long, he wanted to go out so I got down on my knees and put his rope on and let him go out into the backyard. Our neighbor Jill saw me and waved so I went and talked to her for a little bit. After letting Buddy in, I laid down on the couch for a while, but another neighbor has Stanley Steamer over cleaning the carpets and they were making too much noise so I went and laid in my bed and quickly fell asleep. Lord it is good to be home.
Other than being a little sore from the incisions and being a little tired, I have a hard time believing that I had open heart surgery less than a week ago. Dr. Willekes stopped by to see me before we left, Dawn was wondering and asked him if he determined what caused it, he called Barlow's syndrome. I looked it up and it didn't answer much for me.
I guess it is time for Buddy's walk, so I am going to join them and see how I do.
Lord, it is good to be home.

The Green, Green Grass of Home

I just met with the nurse from the surgeon's office, and she gave me the best news I've had in over a year. They are going to let me go home this afternoon!!!!!!! Despite the amount of drainage, they feel I'm healthy and young enough where my body should handle it okay. I can't wait to get home, plot how I can disappear from Dawn long enough to possibly get up to the garden just to see life once again.
While the entire staff has been great here at the Meijer Heart Clinic, and I'll miss them some, I'd be happy if I never have to see them here on the seventh floor again.
I'll send more at home, but I want the nurse know that they can have somebody come and rip this tube out of my chest, and I want to start packing up my belongings so as soon as possible I can smell the outside air once again!!!

Will Wednesday be the day I get to go Home?

I'm convinced that they are trying to mentally break me. During the wee hours of the morning, I got up to well wee, the clock said it was 5:00. I decided that it was not time to get up yet so I laid back down. After a while, someone walked in, since I heard them I laid still and was thinking about jumping up and scaring them when they got closer, but they didn't come closer. What are they doing? Standing there watching me breathe? Finally she said Mr. Wilson, I'm hear to draw some blood. Well, she is armed with a needle, so scaring her is out of the question so I opened my eyes. The clock showed 5:15. Wait a second, I know I slept longer than 15 minutes this last time. What are they doing to me? After she took some blood from me (it is taking them longer to find a vein to use, I've got to be close to being tapped out) another gal stopped by to weigh me, so I said sure and walked out to the hall with my briefcase of chest drainage, I don't think she expected me to go out there and when she turned around and saw me if gave her a little start. At least I scared someone today.
I'm weighing about a pound more than I was when I came in almost a week ago, but about 17 pounds less than when I came up from surgery. I walked over a mile yesterday in the halls of the seventh floor. So I'm feeling pretty good that I should go home today. When Paula came in to check on me I asked her how my chest drainage was, she said she got over a 100 units from me last night, so it wouldn't surprise her if they decided to keep me another night. Not what I want to hear, but it's not her call. She put a new iv catheter in this morning, she said that if she puts in a new one, that it will be good luck for me to be released. Since she put it that way, I let her try to find a place to put it. After she found a place on the hairy side of my left arm to put it, she taped it down good so I can remember her when I go to remove it later.
I decided to shave and pull a chunk of tape off from the side of my neck, it's been bugging me for a while. After that, I took my drainage briefcase and went to the lounge area to get a cup of coffee, they looked at me a little funny as I passed the nurses station, but they didn't say anything. So as I sit here to kill time and wait for breakfast (usually doesn't get here until 9), I hope and pray that today is the day they'll let me go home!

Still in the Heart Hospital

Brittney brought me the computer so I'll shall attempt to update things. They decided that I need to stay another day before they remove the drainage tube from my chest and then discharge me. Dr. Willekes has been stopping by to see me daily and tolerating my off the wall comments. Today I asked him if he has learned anything from my surgery, and he explained to me that on Monday he is going to perform a similar surgery, but because of the problems with getting into my neck atery and went into my chest, so on Monday he is going to in on her chest instead of messing with the neck, he never had to do that before. So it is good to know that something he learned on me will benefit others in the future.
I have so many stories to tell regarding the food, how they conviently wake you during the night to check with you on important matters such as how you're sleeping and other things that keep you awake at night. I awoke one morning to Have Randy Oesch in my room wondering what I was doing there. It has been interesting, looking forward to the meals, I even get the Grand Rapids Press with dinner Monday through Friday. My Mom and Dad just got here so I'm going to close for now, but I'll post more later. I think I'm becoming a real Dr. House, as I walked by their rooms and try to determine out why they are here.
Later all, I can't wait to talk to you all reall soon.
John

Saturday morning update

Posted by Bri

I am at the hospital right now with Dad. He has been really tired and just wants to sleep all day. He is still very sore and it hurts him when he makes the smallest movements. He still has the chest tube in, which is pretty painful for him. His neck is still swollen, but not near as bad as before. He has been able to walk around a couple of times down the hall a little ways and back.

Mom says earlier this morning he asked the doctor if he really needed the surgery. I think he is starting to second guess if all this pain was worth it, because he wasn't in this much pain before the surgery. But the doctor reassured him that it was much needed, and they couldn't have waited much longer.

Right now Grandpa and Grandma Wilson are with my mom and I. Dad is sleeping and Grandpa keeps drifting off too. We are watching a weird movie on TV, but Grandma and Mom seem to be enjoying it. Grandma Miller is suppose to be here any minute as well.

Well that is it for now, they are taking Dad's IV out of his chest and are going to put it somewhere else that will be more comfortable for him. We will keep updating you!

Noon Update

Posted by Brittney

Just got off the phone with Dad again. He is very nauseated and can barely hold down even water. He is also quite tired and they gave him something more for his pain. He told me his "insides" hurt. :-( it sounds like his tongue is still swollen or something because he sounds a little drunk.
They did move him to a new room on the 7th floor. I don't know what visitation is like right now, but he's pretty much just lying around and barfing, so I'm not sure you want to be there. But just for reference, he is in room 7817. My grandparents and mom are there with him now. When I called Mom & Grandpa were out getting lunch.
When Bri gets done with work today I think she is heading over there. Hopefully she can update the blog then because I'm doing this from my darn iPhone. Either way, we'll keep you posted.

Friday Morning

Posted by Brittney

I just got a little update after landing in Cincinnati: At sometime in the night the new nurse (John) woke Dad up a little and was giving him simple commands, which he was able to follow. He still wasn't able to open his eyes because of the swelling, so they let him continue resting. Dad woke up around 6:30 this morning and thought it was 6:30 at night! My mom got to the hospital around 7, and he asked her what took so long for him to wake up. She had to remind him that he had heart surgery :-) That's about all I know right now, we will let you know when he moves to a different room.

Late Night Update

Posted by Brittney

One last update before I go to bed! We were finally able to see Dad at 6:15 tonight. We were given a short time to visit him, then could come back every hour. It was pretty shocking how swollen he is. The doctors said there was a lot of fluid, plus they had trouble getting a cath in his neck, so that added to the swelling. His whole face and neck were huge, but did go down a little by the time we left. They also sat him up more in bed to try and help the swelling go down. His one arm with the IVs in it was also pretty swollen, but his other hand and feet weren't bad at all. He still has the breathing tube in him, and will until he begins to come around and the doctors believe he can breathe on his own. The biggest concern is all the swelling, especially in his throat, tongue, even his lips, which may make it difficult to breath. They will try to keep him sedated until the swelling gets down enough. 

There was one nurse sitting in there for the evening, her shift just ended at 11 and a new nurse will come in to sit with him. After we saw him at 6:15, Brianna & I went home to walk the dogs. Boy were they happy to see us! Mom went in again at 7:15. We got back to the hospital in time to go see him again around 8:15. Visiting hours end around 9 and they encourage families to go home and get rest then because there is really nothing to do at that point. We said goodnight to Dad and left; we were the last ones there and the floor was pretty much shut down in the waiting area. 

Mom called the hospital again just now before going to bed and was able to talk with the same nurse who was in there earlier this evening. She said he had begun stirring a little and moving his arms. She tried to get him to open his eyes, but his face is still too swollen. They will make him get a good night's sleep and hopefully come morning the swelling will be down and they can get the breathing tube out. 

He's on a few different medicines via IV, has the breathing tube plus a stomach pump in his mouth, a catheter, and a drainage tube out of his chest. And some little grey lines we think are probably attached to the sticky things that keep his vitals (which were good). We can't wait to see him without all that stuff stuck in him! 

Why do they have to put gymnastics on so late tonight? I need sleep! Tomorrow is another early morning, I am flying to Pittsburgh to meet Curt for his uncle's wedding on Saturday and my flight leaves at 6:05 AM. I'm sure Mom will call the hospital again before we leave and I'll try to get a short update for you to wake up to. I'll be flying all morning, but Bri will try to update anything important and we will post if he has been relocated or anything. 

Good night or good morning, depending on when you get this! Hopefully Dad will be feeling good soon and can update this blog himself, I know you are all waiting to hear from him :-)

PS- Yes, we did take a picture of him, he wanted to see himself. We won't post it until we can get his consent, like I said, he looked pretty gross. You've been warned...

Out of Surgery

Posted by Brittney

We just spoke with Dr. Willekes, the surgeon. Dad is out of surgery and everything went well. They repaired the valve with the da Vinci machine, but Dr. Willekes decided to make a new cord (see picture below -is it too graphic? sorry) by sewing one right onto the heart. They use Gor-Tex stitches to build a new one. To do that Dr. Willekes had to go in by hand, which meant cutting a little more into the main incision, but only added an inch or so to it. 

He came off bypass fine, and the leak subsided once the heart got down to a slower pace. Now they are unhooking him from everything, and getting him situated in his room. We will have to wait a little bit to see him, but he will most likely still be sleeping. They guesstimate that it will be 4-5 hours before he comes off the anesthetic, at that point they will take his breathing tube out. I've seen that on Grey's Anatomy and ER, he will have to cough it up I bet - ouch! 

That's all for now, we will be able to see him in a little bit and he will probably look pretty nasty. Brendan from work wanted a picture, but we'll have to see how bad he looks, I don't want to scare anyone :-)

We have now been in the hospital for almost 11 hours. We've been eating Goldfish crackers, Yo-Go's, and Granola bars. We had lunch a little bit ago and then Grandma & Grandpa Wilson came. We are all just waiting to see him now and then the dogs need walked and fed. I want to sneak them into the hospital so they can see that Dad's alright, because I know they will be concerned. But I think they are too big and too noisy to get past the nice lady at the desk. 

That's all for now, we will update later tonight when he gets off anesthetic and everything. He will be in ICU for now, then we will let you know where he ends up tomorrow. 

Thanks for all your positive thoughts and prayers, now we just want a good recovery!

                                                                                   

1:00 Update

The nurse stopped by a little after 1 with news that they put the band around the valve and everything was going well. I'm not sure what exactly the band around the valve means, but it's part of the repair. She will be back again, probably after 3 with another update. Hopefully at that point they will be wrapping up. 

She's just here...

He is off the bypass machine, they are examining the valve. There is a little leak so another doctor is looking at it to determine whether they need to do something different or replace it somehow. But right now his heart is beating on it's own, they just want to make sure it's all done correctly.

She will be back again at 3 when her shift ends to tell us exactly what is up and what the doctors have decided.

11:00 Update

The nurse came back, like clockwork. She must have a timer set in there or something. They have started the surgery with the robot and everything is going well. She will be back in two more hours with another update. :-)

At the hospital + Update at the End

Posted by Brittney

Here are some photos from this morning. We arrived at the hospital very early (5:15 AM) and had to wait a couple minutes in the waiting room... 

After awhile they took us all back to a little room. Dad put on his gown and slipper socks and we all waited. A nurse named Cliff shaved Dad smooth while we waited outside the room. Then a nurse put a big IV in his hand and asked about 100 questions. She was very friendly. Another nurse, I think her name was Pam, came in to introduce herself. She will be in the operating room with Dad and be giving us updates every couple hours. Then Dr. Willekes came in and went over a few things. He assured Dad that he had a very good night's sleep last night, unlike the rest of us. After Dr. Willekes, the anesthesiologist came and introduced himself, Dr. Parekh but we may call him Shyam. He promised to take good care of Dad; he was very friendly as well. 

After Shyam talked to us about a few things we gave hugs & kisses and left Dad in their care. We went to get some breakfast, donuts from the cafeteria, and now we are hanging out in the waiting room in some comfy recliners with our laptops. There are a quite a few other people in the waiting room as well. 

In the meantime, the operating room might look something like this....

We should be getting an update shortly that they have started things, I will post again then when we do hear. 

Don't forget you can sign up to receive the email updates to the top & right of this page to get any updates delivered right to your inbox. 

Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers, we all appreciate them! 

Oh, the nurse just came and gave us an update: They have some of the lines in him and still need to put more in. They had to put another IV in, plus a couple things in his neck (which I think will make it look like he got bit by a vampire) in addition to the holes for the robot arms. So he is sleeping, but the actual surgery hasn't started yet. (Wow, that takes a long time to put those lines in!)

35 Hours and Counting Down

Posted by John

I decided to post a few comments so I can see if I can figure this blogging thing out. How things have changed for me in the past couple of years. Two years ago after I completed a 15.5 mile run, my legs were swollen a bit and with some coaxing from my wife Dawn and others, I went to the doctor's to get my legs checked out, only to have my doctor (Dr. Kirk Aggerson) tell me not to worry about my legs, but that he suspected that my mitral valve in my heart was bad. He sent me to my cardiologist Dr. Richard Foster who has been watching me close for the past couple of years. He let me know that I'd be needing to have open heart surgery, and started to prepare Dawn and myself for when the day would come when it was time to get it done. I started to surf the web to see if I could learn more, and found out that Cleveland Heart Center was doing a procedure where with the assistance of robotics, they could perform a minimally invasive procedure to repair my valve, that is what I wanted done. While I thought I was ready to head to Cleveland when it was time to get it done, Dr. Foster was a bit wiser and let me know it wasn't just about me, but also my family needed to be considered in my decisions. While the care I would have received from Cleveland would have been terrific, my wife and daughters would have each other for support he felt that I should consider having it done locally in Grand Rapids so they would have more support, even if it meant me having the traditional heart surgery, cutting through my sternum. This past June he decided it was time for me to see a surgeon, so he recommended Dr. Charles Willekes to see me, between the two of them, they decided it was time for me to get my valve fixed. Fortunately for me, we have some great business people in our area who give back generously to the community that supports them. We have a great heart center now here in Grand Rapids, the Fred and Lena Meijer Heart Center, and thanks to Tom Fox from Fox's Jewelers, in January he purchased a few da Vinci machines for the local hospitals to have. Dr. Willekes is one of two surgeons in the Grand Rapids area that is trained to do cardiac procedures on the da Vinci machine, Dr. Edward Murphy is the other, and on August 14 starting at 7:15 AM, I will have both of them in the operating room taking care of me.
It has been an emotional ride for me in the past couple of years, fortunately at Ada Bible Church, I've been blessed by a couple of the Pastors and their support. Edward Shepard has reminded me that it wasn't just things falling into place that has allowed me to have the surgery I desired here in my hometown, but it was God answering prayers. I'm getting to know Chuck Unseld well at Ada as well, praying with me after the morning services and sending me an occasional email just telling me that he was just thinking of me and said a prayer for me, it is amazing how much that has meant to me. So while I am scared of not knowing what lies ahead in the next 35 to 42 hours and beyond, I do know that God has been watching over me and protecting me, I have no doubt that he will be by my side while I have my procedure. Time for me to get some sleep, I'll be at work tomorrow, another night's sleep tomorrow in my bed, and then I'll spend some time at the Meijer Heart Center. So if you would, say a prayer not just for me, but for Dawn, my daughters Brittney and Brianna as it won't be easy for them, but also for my surgeons Dr. Willekes and Dr. Murphy, as they will be doing the work.

Email Subscription

Posted by Brittney

I added an option on the right for you to receive updates to your email as they are posted on this blog. See on the top right? Called "Email subscriptions powered by FeedBlitz"?

Input your email address into the box, then click "Get email updates" and it will take you to a new page. 

~First, check to make sure your email address is correct and the "Email" choice is selected. 

~Second, type in the text in the box as shown. 

~Then click the "Subscribe Me!" button in step three. It will guide your right through these steps. 

After you subscribe, FeedBlitz will send you a confirmation email which will require you to click the link in the email to activate your account. Again, it tells you to do this. Make sure the emails are not going to your Spam Box; they will be coming from FeedBlitz. After you click to confirm, you should get updates sent to your inbox so you will not have to repeatedly check the site. 

If you use a feed reader, such as Bloglines or Google Reader, you can also add the blog there. 

Let me know if there are any problems, I hope this method will work well for everyone. I will try to address any problems as they come in. 

Monday Check-In

Posted by Brittney

Dad met with the surgeons today to talk about the surgery and take care of some pre-op stuff like a chest x-ray and other tests. They gave him surgeon soap that he has to scrub with Wednesday night and Thursday morning before he goes in. It looks very scrubby like what they use before they go into surgery. 

The surgery starts Thursday at 7:15 a.m. and it will take time to calibrate the robot and get him all plugged in. The estimate it will take a total of 6-7 hours, which means it should be done around 1 or 2 in the afternoon. He will be pretty out of it for awhile and only family and no kids under 18 will be allowed to see him. 

Friday morning he will be moved from the cardiac recovery unit to either ICU or the 7th floor, we don't know yet. 

They warned us that we may not get as many updates as the other people in the waiting room because of the nature of the surgery. We will update this site as we get the updates so we don't have to make 100 phone calls and make it so everyone gets updates when they want to check. 

So keep checking or sign up to get the RSS feed however you want to go about doing that. We will update this and then after the surgery when he feels better I'll make him get on and update. He's going to be laid up for some time, he can blog about his recovery and gardening or whatever else he wants. Mom's going to have him reorganize their mess of recipes while at home, so maybe he'll share some of those too.