The release of the patient

While I can’t say the story of my mom’s bypass surgery has a happy ending yet, it is perking along happily. She had the surgery last Wednesday, came out of the anesthesia on Thursday, was up out of bed very briefly that day but then out for a walk on Friday. Everything progressed extraordinarily rapidly, I thought. All the tubes and things dwindled, and by Sunday she was pretty much unattached. We had been told by the surgeon to expect 6–7 days in the hospital. She was released on Monday, five days after surgery.

Mom came to stay at my house for a few days. It was the best way to have someone keep an eye on her. I furiously cleaned things on Sunday, mostly removing clutter so she didn’t have to dodge boxes and CDs shelved in the hallway. I tried to work at home for the three days, though Monday was a loss as I had to run around getting prescriptions and making follow-up appointments. And Wednesday was nearly a loss, but fortunately everyone else in the office was equally occupied with snow removal and child care in the wake of the blizzard.

Mom had a kinda down day on Tuesday, but perked up on Wednesday and kept feeling better and a little stronger. She has quite a ways to go; bypass surgery takes a lot out of a person. But she felt strong enough to go home to her apartment today, so tonight is her first night by herself. I’m sure she’ll do fine. Being home helps almost every time. And I’m sure after a few days, that long, long hallway to her apartment won’t seem quite as long as she starts getting used to moving around again.

And now my house is quiet and it’s just me again. Mom likes to have the TV on at night. I watched a whole bunch of shows I never watch, such as Minute to Win It and Detroit 1-8-7 (it’s not that I don’t like them; I just fell out of the habit of episodic TV). I have to admit that having Mom here made me eat more healthy foods. Three mornings of Raisin Bran instead of Tim Horton’s, yikes! My doctor could get used to that ….