We got to the clinic at 05:15 , and they took him back for initial prep at 05:25 . We were allowed in to see him at about 6:15 for a few, then they took him back to start his IVas and prep him for surgery. A few moments before they wheeled him back to start prepping him for surgery:
The Surgeon called at 10:30 GMT-4 , at which point he had removed 12g of material from the heart , which is more than he'd removed in some while . He said that he is doing well, and they were working on closing him up at that time. We'll be able to see him around noon or 13, it ended up being about 13:30, as the extubated - that is removed him from the respirator - before they'd let us back to see him.
His Mom, Dad, Brother, Aunt, Uncle , Friend, and I visited Tom in ICU today between 14 and 15ish - i visited last. He's looking very, very well. As in looks like himself. Quite amazing for someone who had under gone a majorly invasive procedure not 3.5 hours prior .
He was a bit out of it with pain, especially since the breathing was hard due to the pain. That pain breathing was expected - they'd cracked his chest open after all. They hung a PCA drip (Patient Controlled Analgesic Drip) of painkiller for him around 15. He was doing much better not long after that. I left for the day once that was hung for him, and i got to speak to the nurse manager for the CVICU (Cardio-Vascular Intensive Care Unit) about photographing him, which i learned later annoyed him. C'est la vie.
The nurse manager told me i could photograph him, with some limitations. No problem. I got two shots of him. the second of which is better, and appears below.
So, immediately post-op, at which point he's writhing in pain yet, as they hadn't hung the PCA (patient-controlled analgesic) yet:
Next post: Moving Out of ICU.
