My Dad's Surgery/Thanks Aliya!

I've had very little internet access since I've been back home, so sorry my update is late. Dad had his WLS on Tuesday (Fat Tuesday, which we found funny) morning. I brought him into the hospital at 9am for his 10am surgery, which didn't get started until almost noon. His Dr., Dr. Baker, told me he'd be about an hour and fifteen minutes. When 2 hours had passed and still no word from the Dr., I started crying in the waiting room--because I've done all the research on the surgery, and I KNEW all the risks. My dad had a few more co-morbs (sleep apnea, high blood pressure, history of heart attack and diabetes in his family) and is older (than me, really, he is quite young--only 52!). I had the waiting room volunteer call into the OR, and they told me they were finishing up and all was well. The Dr. came out a half hour later and told me out of 1,300 WLS surgeries he's done, my dad was in the top 10 most difficult surgeries they've had to do. Apparantly, his stomach was twisted all around so the surgeon had a very difficult time finding the "back" of his stomach to start the transsection. The PA said he'd never seen such "weird" anatomy in all of his career. But the Dr. assured me that while my dad's anatomy made the surgery more difficult, there should be no additional complications of the surgery. In fact, they did a stress test of Dad's pouch before they closed up (he had Lap RNY), and he had an upper GI the next morning as an added protection. He came home Wednesday and was feeling sore, but ok. He just hung around the house Wednesday and Thursday, getting in his liquids and walking around the house. Last night, he woke up with a sharp pain in his right calf. When it didn't go away this morning, he called the Dr's office and they asked him to come right in for an ultrasound. End result--he has a small blood clot in his calf that is partially blocking blood flow into his leg. They admitted him into the hospital and we are right now waiting for the dr to decide what to do about the clot (blood thinners/surgery/some other option). Hopefully, the blood clot can be taken care of quickly and he'll be back on the road to recovery. Please keep him in your prayers and I'll update more when I can. Thanks, Aliya, for asking about him--I'm glad to hear your mom is doing well. Jem

Jem, thanks for the update! PRAYERS, PRAYERS and more PRAYERS to you and your dad. keep us posted!

Jem, These blood clots are the scariest! Good thing they caught it quickly. Good luck to you and your Dad. Lori

Hi Jem, Sorry your Dad is having some difficulty. Praying for him and for the gift of peace for you as you wait and support him in his recovery. Mary

Jem, Glad your Dad is back at the hospital getting the blood clot(s) taken care of. My friend had WLS and ended up back in the hospital due to a bunch of pulmonary embolisms. It took time to resolve them - most resolved with thinners but one they had to go in an artery and get it. She had to take blood thinners for 6 months post-op but she is just fine and dandy! I hope they get it all resolved very quickly! Congrats to him on his surgery. Kathy

Quick update: Dad is home from the hospital. They decided against a filter and he's just on a combo of Lovonox and Coumadin. He'll be off Lovonox Tuesday and stay on Coumadin (both are blood thinners) for 6 months. This is has been a tough experience for me and my family--it really made the risks of surgery hit home. If he can get through the next 1-6 months without any additional complications (no more blood clots and no excessive bleeding from blood thinners), he'll be back to what I'm calling "new normal"--I mean, he still has WLS, so he's learning to eat all over again. Thanks for all your warm thoughts and prayers. Jem If you are interested, I wrote up the whole long story on my website--you can check it out by going to http://jemwelsh.blogspot.com