LVAD Update - from Amy - from 9/13/2014

On Thursday morning, Pat had surgery to place his LVAD (left ventricle assist device). The surgery took a little longer than expected, but he did great. Initially, we were told this would be an open heart surgery; however,  when the surgeon learned that Pat has never had his chest opened, he decided that he would prefer to do the minimally invasive surgery, if possible. This would allow an easier recovery and be better for transplant, as they will not have to deal with the scar tissue. Fortunately, the surgeon was able to do the minimally invasive surgery- Hooray! 

There's kind of a funny story about the surgery, but I want to tell Pat before I post it, so stand by. 

The night of the surgery, the medical staff had a little bit of trouble getting Pat's blood pressure where they wanted it, but he stabilized and has been stable since late Thursday night. Yesterday, his blood pressure was great, and they were able to start weaning back off some of the medications. One of his meds was being delivered through the ventilator, so Pat needed to be completely off that medication before they can move forward with removing the breathing tube. He went off that medication around midnight, so today, they will work on getting him breathing on his own. 

Pat is still sedated. They will also be easing up on the sedation, but they prefer that he be asleep until they can work on removing the breathing tube. The anxiety of waking up with the tube can cause patients' blood pressure to whack out, plus- let's be real- he'd be annoyed by the breathing tube, if he was awake. 

This is slow moving, but, as Pat would say, you can't rush into these things. His numbers look great, and we're just moving along as his body tolerates the changes. We are so grateful for the continued prayers and good thoughts on our behalf. 

Sidebar: Today is our niece's 7th birthday. I asked her what she was hoping she would get for her birthday. She told me a fart bat: "It's a long tube that you blow up, and then you sit on it and it makes a fart noise, like a whoopee cushion. And if I'm sitting on a metal chair and do it, the noise will be really loud."

Uncle Pat is so proud.