The consequence of smoking.

I took Ken in to the Austin hospital on Tuesday morning at 6 am, and by 7.15 he was being wheeled into the operating theatre. The medics told me someone would call me as soon as the operation was over, and let me know how he was. I went home for a while, then went back to Heidelberg to join some friends for a coffee. We chatted for an hour or so, then Val had to go, so Julie and I window shopped for a while, then went to the pub for lunch.
By 1pm I hadn't heard anything from the hospital, so I phoned them from my mobile. I was informed that he was out of the theatre and in ICU, and I said "Nobody has told me!" and the girl snapped "He's only just been wheeled in here - give me a bloody chance". I thought Oops, she's having a bad day, or something is going seriously wrong in there. She told me to call back in an hour or so and they would have Ken stabilised. I called back at 2.30, and was told that he had two bypass grafts and the operation was successful with no complications, but his blood pressure was dropping, and he couldn't breathe on his own, so he was on a ventilator. She advised me not to come in until they had 'sorted him out'. You can imagine how all this made me feel. Not happy Jan...

I drove over to the aged care home where Ken's mum is, and told her Ken was out of surgery and the operation had been successful (didn't mention the bad bits), and she was so pleased that I'd come by to tell her. I went home for a while, then out again to visit a friend, and was home again by 5pm. This time when I called the hospital, the news was much better. His blood pressure had levelled out, and he was waking up and responding to the nurses' voices.

I went in to see him last night, after the nurse suggested coming in later rather than sooner, as it would give him time to recover a bit more. Ken's cousin Sue came in with me to see him. The nurse said he is doing remarkably well, groggy but awake enough to know what is going on. We talked to him in short bursts, because he was on oxygen and couldn't talk properly, but well enough for us to understand him. Nurse said if there was a bed available he would be transferred to the cardiac ward the next day, and they would get him up and walking around the ward the next day!! Can you believe that when you see this??