Journal entry by Douglas Rachac —
Today was the big day! Mom and dad were at United Hospital by their 6am check in time and we’re ready for the day by 7. Jen and I arrived around 7 and we all met with the Medtronic representative who explained the procedure a bit more. Mom and Dad had already heard most of the talk from both Jen and myself, so it was more of the same information, just from a new source. Around 7:40 dad was taken back to the operating room and we had the chance to meet his surgeon quickly. He is a very nice man with huge, huge hands. Somehow he manages to handle tiny pacemakers and leads with those huge hands. We got the impression very quickly that Dr Vatterot and the Medtronic Rep work very closely together. We knew he was in excellent hands.
The procedure went very, very well. Dr Vatterot said they had no problem placing the pacemaker and leads and all of the “numbers” looked great. I think he had fun talking what he called “nerd talk” with Jen and me since we understand all of the technical jargon. Dr V said dad was awake during the whole procedure and that he and dad talked about damned near everything from dad’s background in computers to his time at Univac, where they lived in Inver Grove (just down the road from Dr V) to his time at Marquette University. I think Dr Vatterot just really enjoyed talking to dad during the implant.
Afterwards dad looked good and was about to get lunch when Jen and I headed out. The Medtronic Rep stopped in once more to check on him just as we were leaving. They’ll have him up and walking today to get him mobile again. Tomorrow they’ll check his lead placement with an X-ray just to make sure nothing has moved, then he can go home, probably by noon.
He’s been given a few instructions which include being mobile, but not really physically active. So, dad needs to give his racketball and parkour training a rest for a few weeks. Dr Vatterot did specifically point out that dad CAN use his right arm to vacuum the floor starting in a couple of days. Dads days of milking the open heart surgery are over!
That’s all for now. We’re very hopeful this will do the trick and will help dad stop feeling so worn down. His task over the next few days is to be somewhat active to help his pacemaker learn what activity looks like for him. That way the therapy it delivers will be more effective for him.
Thanks for all your well wishes and support. More later!!
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