This just in from Susanna Clutts,

Hello everyone,   

I'm doing group emails since life is pretty hectic. Dad is post-op day 2 today.  I went up to see him before I came on work.  He is doing well. He has minimal edema and got his drains and one chest tube pulled [the mediastinal and pericardial JP's and one chest tube for the medical people]. He is in quite a bit of pain, but is handling it well and getting good care. The good news is that he is able to get rest that he hasn't gotten in years.   

Medical jargon: he is no longer in first-degree block but is sinus/ sinus tach--I think the increase perfusion to the AV/SA nodes helped!  When he was admitted last week he was in a 3rd degree block and had progressed backwards to winckebach (2nd degree) and then first degree with the treatment for myocarditis before the surgery.  He was admitted 5/27 with a BP of 70/50 and a 3rd degree block with a rate of 35! He was operating the day before...pretty sure he was in 3rd degree then! His cardiac enzymes were elevated, as well as BUN/Cr and WBC's.  He apparently had an infection as well as the cardiac issues--unsure which preciptated which. He was looking at going home, then had an adenosine stress test which showed an inferior apical MI.  That led to a cardia cath which showed 70% blockage of the LAD, 80% blockage of the right main, and 100% blockage at the apex on 6/3. 6/4 he had a CABG x 2--apparently the apex vessel had develped good collateral circulation and was too small to bypass. The cardiac surgeon said he saw no evidence of damage to the ventricle--no bruising indicating recent MI and no scarring indicating older MI--so not sure when the heart attack took place. The surgery went well--he was on bypass about 2.5-3 hours I think (time is kind of a blur). The surgery took about 4 hours. He got up to ICU about 1230 and was extubated at 2000. Post-op day 1 they pulled out the Swan-Ganz catheter in the morning, which is almost unheard of! He walked 4 times day one, going 2 laps the 3rd time he walked, also unheard of for post-op day 1!  Post op evening 1 he was moved to the stepdown unit with no drips, no art line, just the central line.      It is by the grace of God the docs found this heart issue before Dad had a full-blown heart attack!  We are very thankful for that. The docs are telling him he can start seeing patients the first week in August.  We are guessing they will keep him several days to make sure the myocarditis [heart inflammation] is completely resolved.     

Mom is doing surprisingly well with coping, a huge answer to prayer!  God is granting her sleep at night, and she is resuming normal activities. Beth and I have been granted FMLA time until September [family medical leave act]--no penalty for up to 12 weeks off work, other than not getting fully paid.  This is a huge blessing, as we can alternate days off to care for our parents, especially once Dad comes home.      

Praises: surgery went great, dad is healing, mom is coping, lots of witnessing opportunities, great staff and docs caring for dad, strength and peace     

Prayer requests: continued strength [I know myself I have been in nursing mode (a true ER adrenaline junkie) so the magnitiude of the situation I have not allowed to fully hit...one of these days it will!!], patience for dad as he must slow down and give himself time to heal, peace and understanding for mom, wisdom for medical staff, that people would come to Christ through this!!!.     

Dad's office nurse is arranging a work day this coming Saturday for hospital staff to do yard work, tree removal [from a bad storm], tilling the garden...Dad's summer work list...since everyone wants to do something to help Dr. Clutts!    

I will do my best to keep everyone updated.  Thanks for your prayers and support! I have been showing Dad the emails--it has been a blessing to him.  

Love to all,
Susanna