Well that was a bust

This surgery of dad's was a bit of a bust. The best part is that the neurologist is hot hot hot. And evidently we will be seeing more of him, so that is a plus. Yes, he went for heart surgery, but ended up with a hot neurologist. He is a medical nightmare--all of these heart and brain problems were discovered as they tried to do follow up on his bladder cancer--tests they cannot do with his heart in this condition. And the bladder cancer was only discovered because his stomach was tore up. And every bit of it is complicated by the fact that he has diabetes.

Every step he takes forward, they have to go back four steps to set the groundwork so he can withstand more treatment. In other words, we never get anywhere, because something else breaks practically on the way to the doc, every time.

The plan for this week was to do some stents in the arteries where he previously had a quadruple bypass. Unfortunately, despite the doc's best efforts, they could not get the job done. Evidently, the plaque buildup inside the arteries is so hard, the doc could not break through it.

The surgeon did manage to poke some holes in some areas of it, so there is a little more blood flow than there was. His plan is to try this again in three weeks or so, to try to poke some more holes in another spot, to try to increase blood flow. First, they have to wait for the contrast dye to get out of his kidneys, before they put more in there--his kidneys aren't great either, as you can imagine.

No one really seems that terribly worried about his heart. There is some new tool that they described as an ultrasound jackhammer that they think will work to break up the plaque, but the hospital does not own one. They intend to buy one, but do not know when that will happen. Fat lot of good that does us, huh?

The larger problem seems to be the blockage in an artery in his brain. I guess it is shocking that he has not had a stroke yet, and we are supposed to be watching for signs that the blockage is causing trouble.

It is amazing the difference in this hospital--which is really really nice- and where he normally goes. Everyone seems to know what the other docs are doing, and that is never the case at his regular place. I am sure a good part of the difference is attributable to Matt, a friend who runs dad's surgeon. He coordinates and follows up and spends time to hang out with us, which makes the time go faster.

The bottom line is that we are nowhere.

But on a good note, Barry will be home tomorrow nite!