ICU

11pm Just arrived home after a long and worrying day. But all is well.
Rick's surgery started around 12 noon and was finished by 2.30pm.
By 8pm he was waking up and breathing on his own, his heart rate (finally in the 70s) and blood pressure good and all the drainage tubes working well.
Although he's pretty uncomfortable, he's not in too much pain. There's plenty of pain relief on offer.
Two veins (leg and mammary) were used for the double bypass and we are hoping he'll be out of ICU soon after lunch tomorrow.
Open heart surgery is just amazing, cutting through the sternum and keeping the patient alive with a heart-lung machine, whilst cooling the body right down to 15 degrees - it took until 7.30pm to get his body temperature back to 37 degrees celsius.
It's routine surgery these days, but nevertheless daunting when it's happening to you.
As yet I haven't spoken to the surgeon, but we hope to see him tomorrow.
I'm not sure anyone could possibly sleep in ICU - it's a busy place and from a layman's point of view very scary, but the staff are fantastic and very professional.
It has been the longest day of my life I think, but one which should give Rick a new lease on life and the chance to start the prostate treatment, a chance he may otherwise not have had. Science is a wonderful thing and we're very fortunate to live in this highly technological age.