Physician, heal thyself!

[Buckethead]

Back in the late 90's my dad (an orthopaedist) ended up having to have his gall bladder removed. Ordinarily no big deal. Advances in laproscopic/endoscopic surgery means that it can be done with a minimum of pain and discomfort through a handful of small incisions. Well, when they catch it early enough. Turns out he thought he just had a really bad cold and was treating it as such, ignoring it until he finally decided he needed to get a second opinion. Called the hospital where he worked (Mom was out of town with my older brother on a college visit. Timing!), ambulance took him away, and as I understand it he was in the OR within an hour, belly flayed open from navel to sternum as they looked to get all of the infected bits out. A couple of days in ICU, a couple more in a regular bed, and he came home like a week later with the beginnings of an AWESOME scar. (He's got a bit of a gut, so the scar on his belly is like Popeye's muscles on top of his muscles.)

Fast forward to a couple of days ago. He'd apparently been having some chest pains that he hadn't told anyone about and finally decided that it was time to go get them checked out. He had a heart attack in '03, so this isn't entirely unexpected. Mom (an ARNP) saddles him up in the car and drives him in. Come to find out that he was convinced that the statins he was on were causing him body aches so, about six weeks ago, he decided to stop taking them. (D'oh!) His heartbeat looked fine, but his chemistry was a bit off, so they decided to keep him. An angiogram and a sonogram of his carotids later and his doc figures out that he's got 85-90% blockages on a couple of arteries and the rest of them are at about 70% blockage. Well, that explains the angina. So he's on the schedule for major (4? 5? I don't know.) coronary bypass surgery some time tomorrow morning. As near as I can figure it, this new scar will complete the set, collarbone to belly button.

Now, as bad as all that is, I'm not really that worried about him. I mean, yeah, he's gonna have some sort of issue or episode post-op cause, well, it wouldn't be him if he didn't. But to be honest, I'm much less worried about him dying on the table than I am about my mother smothering him with a pillow during the 8-12 week recovery period when his arms are basically useless, and I'm sure he'll be SUPER pleasant on his new diet. He's very much of the dp "No one gets out alive" variety, but assuming she can restrain her homicidal urges, I'm sure my mom would like to keep him around a while.

I'd ask you all to send them good vibes, but they live like 6 blocks from Fred Phelps, and I don't want that bigoted asshole stealing them. I just needed to vent.

[ducpainter]

We're here if you need us.

Our thoughts for a speedy recovery and a stay of excecution....

[Buckethead]

We're here if you need us.

I know, and I appreciate that more than I think you know. 

[il d00d]

Vibes are in the the metaphysical mail.  Good ones for you, your mom and dad - bad ones to that lump of shit Phelps.  Best of luck to you all, may he have a successful and uneventful procedure, and a quick, homicide-free recovery.

[Oldfisti]

Hugs and good vibes sent.


[moto]

[Speedbag]

We're here if you need us.

Our thoughts for a speedy recovery and a stay of excecution....

+1

[triangleforge]

Good luck to your dad!

Not sure what it is, but physicians seem to be some of the least-aware people out there when it comes to their own health. Or maybe it's just folks with "Doctor" in front of their names -- my dad ignored serious angina all the way into a pentuple bypass a little over a decade ago, and with a PhD in Nuclear Chemistry he's, you know, a relatively smart guy...  the good news is that he's still doing great as he closes in on 80, and I wish all the same for your dad! 

[Buckethead]

Thanks, all. And yes, he's even told me himself, doctors often make the worst patients. Don't get me wrong, I don't think he developed all of that plaque in the last 6 weeks, but c'mon. You're on those drugs for a reason.

The joke now is that while they're in there, they should just go ahead and do a gastric bypass without telling him. When he wakes up, "Surprise! Now you have no choice but to lose weight." 

[Speedbag]

I had acute angina once - probably should have married her. 

(hate to make light of the situation, but sincerely hope you got a grin)

[Buckethead]

 

No worries. I still say the best angina joke ever was on the short-lived TV show Titus. Titus' dad (played by Stacy Keach) makes some sort of rash decision (I forget what specifically) and Chris tells him "Easy now, Dad. That's just the angina talking."

His younger brother Dave gets this awe-struck look on his face and pipes up "They can TALK?!?!?!"

[Speedbag]

Titus was great....I miss that show.

[Buckethead]

Wussy.

[Speedbag]

 

[mitt]

good luck to your dad.

maybe dr's know something we don't - like letting nature take its course or something?


mitt

[LMT]

Good vibes being sent.