Defibrillator Implanted!

Well, August 27th finally arrived!

I woke up bright and early to take my dad to the hospital to have the procedure of implanting a defibrillator. We got to the hospital around 8:40am where we proceeded to spend the next 40 minutes filling out paperwork. After that was completed, it was on the surgery preparation which took about an hour. Before we knew it, it was 11am and my dad was rolled off to surgery.

My mom and I were told that the procedure would take roughly 2-3 hours, so we decided to wait in the waiting area. Well, that 3 hour wait turned into a 5 hour wait. Because my dad had had open heart surgery (a quadruple bypass), it made the defibrillator procedure a lot more complex. As you can imagine, I started to get concerned when it hit 4 hours and we still had not seen the doctor. A nurse finally came out to let us know that it was taking longer than expected, but that my dad was doing well.

The doctor finally came out when it was all done and told us that everything went well. The defibrillator was implanted and everything was functioning properly. He said that my dad should feel better as the defibrillator helps synchronize his heart rhythm and should also help minimize the fluid build-up in his lungs that caused his last cardiac episode.

After speaking with the doctor, the nurses told us that my dad would be taken to Recovery ICU and then would be taken to a room where he would spend the night. Well, that process took another 4 hours as there were no rooms available for when my dad was ready to be moved. (Note: if it took 4 hours to get a room in a private hospital, I can only imagine what the wait would be like when the Feds take control of health care in the US.)

My mom and I got to see my dad while he was in Recovery ICU. When we first saw him, he did not look well at all. He was still groggy from the anesthesia and his face (particularly his cheeks) had no color at all. He was completely white. We were quite concerned, but the nurse assured us that he was fine. After about 30 minutes from that initial visit, color did return to his face once he woke up and was given some food.

We watched as the nurses measured his vitals - his temperature was fine, heart rate looked good and EKG came back strong. If this continues, I believe we'll be in good shape! My dad will stay in the hospital overnight and we'll take him home tomorrow.

Obviously, we still have to be careful for the next 6 weeks as my dad isn't allowed to raise his left arm above his shoulder as doing so could pull the defibrillator wires out of position. However, I'm optimistic my day at the hospital was well spent.