What a roller coaster of a day. A good one as it turned out. Bob came to the hotel late morning and the four of us waited for a call fom the hospital that DIDN’T come by the promised 2:00. This made us think that Dad likely wasn’t going to be admitted until tomorrow and that stressed us all. But a couple of hours later, and after an intervention from Dr. Shoesmith, Dad’s family doctor, we got a call saying a bed was ready for him at 6:00. We were instructed to go straight to the ward where he was welcomed the moment we walked in the door. By this time Denise was with us, so he had a decent sized entourage.
AND his surgeon was waiting for him, which was the best possible surprise. We sat down immediately for a consultation, and Dr. Robinson was great. At one point he was talking about the kind of decisions he might need to make during the surgery, and said he would treat Dad like he would his own father – and I believed him. He was reassuringly clear about why he thought the surgery would go well, and equally clear about the risks, while being very positive about the whole thing. Dad reaffirmed that he wants to go for it. He’s scheduled for surgery on Friday, and they will likely keep him for two nights afterwards just to be certain he’s recovered enough to come home. We were concerned about the waiting that long, but now recognize that he’s in the best possible place while they do the tests that are needed before hand.
Here’s Dad’s message to Dr Shoesmith, after he got settled in his room… Its a pretty good indicator of how he’s feeling about the whole thing tonight.
Consultations with Dr. Robinson…. He showed us the CT scan. and where he will put in 3 or 4 stents between the aorta and iliac artery. He’s not promising Dad that his pain will go away, but said there was nothing else on the CT scan that looked like it could cause it. He acknowledged that Dad’s age kind of makes him special, but emphasized that it’s only a number – that his general health and his mental capacity were more important indicators of likely success.
The room they arranged for him is a beauty, if such a thing can be said for a hospital room – it’s private, across from the nursing station, big windows, with a couch and chair for us visitors. The nusing staff we met were great with him, and when we left he was pain free and feeling very cared for. Here he is, settled in …
I can’t say how relieved I am that he’s in a comfortable, safe place for these next couple of days.