Franz is home! He’s very tired but happy to breathe fresh air and listen to the waterfall outside in the garden. Now the real healing begins. It’s so wonderful to be on this side of such a big surgery!
Posts
One more day in the hospital to let the remaining drains do their job. Franz is walking well and practiced climbing stairs today which were no problem for him. Our bedrooms are all upstairs so that is a necessity! His appetite is getting better and he’s feeling more like himself. The medical care has been amazing in all aspects.
Franz is now on the cardiac unit and tubes are rapidly being removed. He had a very short walk with PT this morning. Reality is hitting about how weak and exhausted he is. Not Franz’ style as you all know! Care continues to be top notch although they are clearly short staffed. Lots of empty beds on this floor due to no caregivers. We will be here until Monday. Lots of goals to be met before we go home but we’re headed in the right direction!
What a difference a day makes! Franz is sitting up in a chair and just finished a light meal which was definitely not up to his chef standards😉. Many of his tubes have been removed including his central line. Physician assistant just came in and said that Franz will be moved out of the ICU to the cardiac unit later today. This is great progress but we have mixed feelings as he has been getting such good care here. One step closer to home!
Recovery got a little complicated today. Output of blood has been more than normal requiring multiple transfusions. They did an X-ray and found blood clots around the surgery site. He went back to surgery this afternoon to have these removed. Dr said all went well and they don’t anticipate this happening again. Unfortunately he had to go back on the ventilator and this will extend his ICU stay. Franz has already shown how strong he is so hopefully this is a minor setback in his recovery.
Franz had the ventilator removed last night and is doing well. He is very chatty this morning probably due to meds. In Franz style he is entertaining the nurses and thanks each one of them for being here so he could have his surgery. He is still hooked up to many tubes and IVs including 2 central lines. The nurses really are impressive and knowledgeable and enjoy his attitude and sense of humor. Franz will remain in the ICU today and likely overnight again. Dr. Is coming in soon to talk with us and I will update again this afternoon.
A success!
Just heard from the surgeon - surgery was a success (after 5 hours!). The surgeon was able to achieve everything he was hoping for, including the ablation (which was in question - dad will be psyched about this especially because it means he likely doesn't have to take a blood thinner anymore). The surgeon remarked that the aortic valve was very diseased and he must have been "quite symptomatic" - which he wasn't (40-mile bike rides, etc). He's heading to the ICU now for typical post-op care. --Peter
Surgery was delayed and a bit in question this morning due to staffing issues. 75 beds are not being used because there are not enough nurses! They had to make sure there would be an ICU bed for Franz before they started surgery. He was finally prepped and moved to surgery at 9 after arriving here at 5AM. Now our wait begins. So thankful Peter is here today. We don’t expect to hear anything until mid afternoon. I did give Oma an update as I know she’s anxious for news. Will update the blog when we have more information. Nancy