So three weeks to the day since we headed into A&E Husband came home again having been chopped up and repaired, with a new valve (a bit of cow) and a double by-pass.
What I can't get my head around is the fact they took a vein out of his leg, from ankle to top of thigh, to do the by-pass, replacing the dodgy arteries in the heart. "But what happens to the blood? If you remove a long piece of vein where does the blood go?"
Apparently they seal off the cut veins and the blood just magically finds an alternative route. Which all sounds very dubious to me.
What is vein harvesting?
Vein harvesting is a surgical procedure that involves removing (harvesting) a ‘spare’ healthy blood vessel from another part of your body (in this case, your legs) and using it as a graft in your heart bypass surgery. The blood vessel discussed in this factsheet is the great saphenous vein (a long blood vessel in both of your legs that runs from your ankle to your groin).
Again I am a bit concerned by this idea of a 'spare' blood vessel. It looks fairly major to me. And it still doesn't really answer the question of where the blood goes. I suppose they know what they're doing and I probably shouldn't have googled it. Too Much Information for an easily queased-out fainter like me.
* * * * *
Daughter had made me macaroni cheese for dinner so I asked Husband if he wanted some, and, if so, if he wanted a baked potato or anything with it, the anything being fairly limited as I hadn't stocked up for his return.
He said, "No, just the macaroni cheese. I don't want much." He paused. "Well, perhaps some peas with it?" Another pause. "And some bacon?"
He's used to two three-course meals a day. It's going to be a shock coming home. Although I did make him a custard tart. Narrower and thicker than the last one and far more successful.
* * * * *
In Husband's discharge notes it said this:
I guess they would have preferred a bit more pizazz.
6 comments:
Your husband will be only too pleased to be home again. I hope the healing proceeds apace and without problems. Make sure you rest at least as much as him.
My mother had her varicose veins removed from her legs in 1968 and was a lot better afterwards, I don’t think they had worked for years. Also I carry an EpiPen for allergies and I am warned what part of my thigh to jab it into as there are so many veins there
Unremarkable is great in this context. I'm glad it's finally done.
It sounds like his appetite is good!
Hope he is on the mend. With the number of things I've had, I find it best not to googe too much. I rely on common sense and my school biology.
Glad he is "unremarkably" back home
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