March 10th
Doug went into the Austin Heart Hospital yesterday for most of the day to have the pre op tests done. One was an 4D echocardiogram (a sonar of his heart to check valves, chamber sizes and blood flow) and the other a coronary catheterization. The latter involved placing a catheter above his right wrist into which they inject a dye to watch it go through his arm to the coronary arteries in his heart to look for any blockages and other issues so they know this before surgery. Good news: no issues with his coronary arteries and no visible plaque build up.
March 11th
Doug received a call from the surgeon’s office and was given a choice of two dates for the surgery so we chose the 18th of March – next Wednesday.
Yesterday we learned that Austin Heart Hospital is one of the top ten hospitals in the country and Dr. Dewan, is one of the top cardiac thoracic surgeons so again, we feel good about going forward.
This is all happening SO fast and we were so very impressed with the care he received yesterday during the tests. The staff is very friendly, efficient and present. The hospital is a well-oiled but personable machine.
Doug will have pre op blood tests on the 17th and will be admitted at 8am March 18th for the surgery. As far as know so far, he’ll be in hospital 5-7 days.
