A quick update.

Sometime around when the powers that be (and the doctors the rock) managed to keep me on this side of the shadowy veil, the server’s Internet connection when belly up. Seems like a more than fair trade. Actually, as karmic tabs go, I’m assuming I still owe on this one, and I can readily accept that.

At approximately 2:00 PM today I was transferred to the Step-Down unit (now actually housed at Weinburg 6) where cell and laptop access is allowed, and thanks to Missi delivering my gear and Piotr working with me remotely to diagnose the server Internet connection; I’m now once again able to annoy you all with my ranting.

More tomorrow.

Six, count them, Six bypasses

3:25 PM – Sandro is now out of surgery.  The doctors say that it was a very sucessful surgery.  There was no damage to his heart and he now has all new plumbing!  He is in the ICU unit, where visitors are limited.  With any luck he will be off of the ventilator by tomorrow morning.  As he recovers, I will try to post more here.

Don’t stop sending hopes and prayers, he still has a long way to go.

Small Update

10:48 AM – After pestering the staff here for information, we now know that the surgery started at 8 am.  Sandro is doing well.  The surgeon is taking his time harvesting lots of grafts.  Assuming the standard 3-5 hour surgery, we should have more news by 1 pm.

still no news

9:45 AM – For all of you waiting for news, Sandro was brought into the surgery room at 6:15 this morning. He is still in surgery and I am here patiently waiting for news. Once I hear anything I will let you all know. Thanks for your prayers.

Day 9: 18 hours to surgery

My nerves got the best of me last night and I didn’t sleep well. I got prescribed Lorazepam (Ativan) to settle my nerves. The best advice is to use the meds offered to make things somewhat easier.

I go into surgery in about 18 hours. In the mean time I have forms to fill out, various affairs to put in order, and lots of panic to ensue. Hopefully by this time tomorrow, Missi will be able to update the blog with my status (it’s likely to be up to 48 hours before I could do it myself).

Now I’m going to nap since the Lorazepam and lack of rest are making me sleepy.

Days 4-7: Belated update

I apologize for not updating over the past few days. There’s really no good reason for it, since I’m mostly just sitting here. Internet occasionally goes out, but otherwise days are uneventful.

I’ve decided on a traditional open-heart bypass surgery. The minimally invasive operation had several things to recommend it, but in the end, the doctors believe I’ll have the best long-term prognosis if I have a traditional bypass. They’ll be grafting in 5 or more bypasses in a 3-5 hour surgery. We’re currently scheduled for mid-week, but I’m not sure exactly when.

I’d like to thank everyone for all of the warm wishes, e-mail, and calls. I’m sorry I’m not being more communicative, but it’s pretty draining going over all of this multiple times. I’ll update the blog as I have time (at least till they take the computer away), and hopefully either Missi or I will post something after the surgery.