J, please dimsseminate.  This is all I am up for.

Mark is not dead, although it isn't for lack of trying.

They are finally moving him down to ICU, probably about 1:30. This info comes from Bob who will be his nurse.  The electrical "circuitry" of mark's heart became interrupted when they cut through the aorta to get to the aortic valve. Not uncommon. They had a difficult time finding the right spots on Mark's heart to put the spots for the pacing electrodes that would work.  (this is after fixing the previous problem with the undiscovered left artery problem that required a bypass surgery in addition to the valve surgery).

Mark also developed some spots that didn't want to stop bleeding, and that took some time to fix.  His heart is very tired now and wants a vacation in Tahitii. So to let it rest, they are inserting an additional pump through the femoral artery to take the work off his heart until it is ready to go back to work.  I can't be bothered right now to tell you the name.

He has a full sternotamy in addition to the side opening.  What fun.

He will not be sewn up,  but instead is going to his room open an with the esophageal tube still in, just in case.  But his is going to his room, which is HUGE. They will keep him sedated until they can stitch him up and take the tube up.  He will be in hospital for about two weeks.

I will see him tonight, don't know about visitors other than me tomorrow. Nurse Bob said he will be unrcognizable, both from tubes and from the 20 lbs or so he has put on in surgery from the fluids they've been pushing into his system.

All I want is to have him keep breathing.  I have lost too many people.

It is very serious. They are measuring off hours. Every hour Mark survives is good. Insert a bunch of technical stuff here. They are keeping him unconscious and open, but he is now in ICU. I saw him at around 1:30 and talked to Dr. again at 2:00.

No phone call is excellent. It means uneventful hours went by.

I am going to try to get another hour or two of horizontal time. I can't call it sleep.

J, post as you deem appropriate.

Just came back from ICU. I can't describe the relief I felt at still seeing mark's name still on the board. So afraid he was gone and they didn't want to wake me.

He is still there, lub-dubbing away. They are taking him back into surgery this morning to clean out the chest cavity. A lot of blood and fluid has accumulated around the heart, making it work harder. The inset drains aren't clearing it fast enough.  the surgery will clean it out. I am terrified, but it is necessary. I could see the dressing over his gaping chest wound was bulging.

He only had one more fibrillation during the night, which is good. His blood pressure is all over the map, which is bad. Reliving the pressure around the heart should help them control it.

They lightened the anestheisia, and he moved all extremities, which is good. There may now be long therm mental consequences, but maybe not. No one knows for sure. Right now, I don't care.  I just want my husband alive.