Brief Update on Dad

I have finally found some time to update everyone on Dad's surgery.  It will be brief because I am T.I.R.E.D.  It has been a long week, haha.

As we speak he has just been rolled down for his second procedure.  More on that later.

The big surgery took place on Thursday and, thank God, went very well!  This surgery was the first of a two-step process for attacking the aneurysm and was the much more invasive process.  They went in through his skull and swung a vessel down to his PICA to bypass the aneurysm which they are coiling off today.  (If that didn't make sense to you go back to my blog post from several weeks ago where I explain it in brilliant [sarcasm] detail.)  There were no complications, however it did take much longer than anticipated.  We were there at 5:45 a.m. and did not leave the hospital until 11:00 p.m.  The surgery itself took slightly longer than the 4-6 hour estimate and apparently it takes quite a long time to prep and close up for brain surgery, so that accounted for a lot of the time.  However, there was a lot of just waiting for his room to be open up in the ICU where we could see him.  So that was a long day.  But, I am not complaining because everything went so well, and honestly, compared to a lot of the other patients in the neuro ICU, he is in great shape.  He also has/had a LOT of family here for support.  My sister, Danielle, flew in from New York, and in addition to Erik, Elliot, and me his mom, 3 sisters, 3 nieces & a nephew, dad, and several aunts and cousins have been here.  It has been quite a crew and Elliot got to meet some people she has never seen before.

Today's procedure (I say procedure because when I said surgery to a nurse I was sternly corrected that it is "actually a procedure, not a surgery") is much less invasive.  They are going in through his femoral artery (near groin) to do an angiogram plus coil off the aneurysm.  It should take approximately 3 hours, plus a couple hours in recovery, followed by 6 hours of lying flat.  So, he will probably be uncomfortable this afternoon.  They plan on taking out his central line today and he is still on track to be discharged on Wednesday.  He is one hundred times better today than he has been.  When we arrived this morning he stayed awake for 20 minutes talking with us.  He was cracking jokes and being himself.  I can't believe how fast you can bounce back from brain surgery!

Thank you so much for the prayers, texts, and phone calls.  I feel so blessed to have wonderful family and friends.  I especially want to thank my sister-in-law, Krista.  She has been amazing.  She has let us crash at her apartment for nearly a week (and we have made it a disaster zone!), makes us dinner, and has taken time off work to watch Elliot so we can be at the hospital.  I don't know what we would do without her.  Please keep us in your prayers, specifically that this second procedure goes well, that recovery is speedy, and that everyone has a safe trip home.  I will try to update soon about the procedure today.