Heart Surgery Scheduled

URGENT !!!

(update at bottom)

This morning, I had a consultation with my cardiothoracic surgeon and a physician's assistant. I am scheduled to have coronary-bypass surgery (open-heart surgery; four or five bypasses) during the morning of Monday, February 28, 2022. My chance of survival is 95 percent.

The operation is expected to take five hours to complete, which includes the removal of a two-foot-long vein, probably from my left leg, but possibly from my right leg, to be used for the bypasses. I also may have a balloon installed before the bypass operation to strengthen my heart.

During the bypass surgery, my heart and lungs will be induced to stop functioning. I will be kept alive by a machine that will oxygenate and circulate my blood. I will also be put on a ventilator with a tube down my throat.

Due to my medical history (recent kidney failure, a recent heart attack, recent thoracentesis, recent congestive heart failure, long-term diabetes, and chronic asthma/COPD), serious complications may arise. These include the need for a tracheotomy and possibly being sedated (asleep) for up to two weeks, if they are immediately unable to get my lungs to function independently of the ventilator. Either way, I won't be able to eat, so I would be fed through a tube in my side into my stomach and would use a catheter to urinate. I could also have a recurrence of kidney failure.

If everything goes well, I will remain in the hospital for three to five days, possibly seven days, and then return home. Recovery takes about three months, including physical rehabilitation.

After my recover, I may need simple surgery to install a pacemaker or a defibrillator because my heart's blood-pumping ability is insufficient. Maybe the bypass surgery will correct that and also abate my shortness of breath.

Your well-wishes and prayers are certainly welcome. I will post a "goodbye" message on Facebook during the evening before my surgery. After all, my chance of dying is five percent. With any luck and with God's grace, I will live to brag about my continuing ability to survive.

UPDATE: I received a phone call from the physician's assistant. He and the surgeon want me to have my lungs tested (shortness of breath) to see what percentage is linked to heart disease and what percentage is linked to lung disease. So, my heart surgery has once again been postponed.