I left here Monday morning (13th) for Winston supposedly for a consult with the doctors about what was next. By the time I made it to the hospital Dr. Lee had been in to see Bob and said kickoff would be Tuesday morning. Fortunately, I had packed a bag just in case. I called Al who also had a just case bag ready to let him know he needed to come up at some point in the afternoon.
Frances and I were at the hospital Tuesday morning at 5:30. He went down to the OR at 6:15 and they started the actual procedure around 8:15. He was in surgery until almost 2. The OR nurse called me every hour with updates and the surgery team navigator came up several times closer to the end of the procedure to give me personal updates. They did a valve repair, several artery bypasses, and put in the Impella; a temporary heart pump.
I was allowed the the ICU at 4pm to see him but he was very critical at the point. Nothing we could do so we went to find dinner and go back to Frances’. About 6 Dr, Lee called to let me know he needed to go back to the Or to fix some blood clots in the chest but not to come to the hospital. He was back in ICU around 9m. I called at 10 to check on him. They said he was critical but stable and would call me if there was any change. No calls during the night.
This morning we were back at the hospital for the 8:30 visiting slot. He had turned the corner during the night and was heading in the right direction. The next visiting time is this afternoon. They may or may not take him off the breathing tube today but he did wake up a couple of times.
I can’t do anything for him sitting in a waiting room. I took Frances to work then headed up the mountain so Al could go home. If things get worse I will go back down but for now I will stay here to take care of things. I need to ship a kit order, sort the mail, etc. Al took great care of Colin. As far as I can tell, Colin just goes along with whoever is here to take care of him and his fine.