Abah is eating well and exercising

When I arrived at 8.00am at the Cardiac ICU this morning (I was a little late because I forgotten to set the alarm before turning off), my mother and sister was feeding him breakfast. He had a hearty meal, of oatmeal and nuts porridge, a slice of toast and some tea. He was hungry, after not eating for over 60 hours. He actually had the whole breakfast and asked for some eggs.

Left: A hearty breakfast, the most important meal in three days!

Later, when Dato' Dr. V. Kathiresan came, he ordered most of tubes attached to him to be taken off and allowed my father to be discharged from the CICU and go back to wards, to continue recuperate. He was happy with the progress, despite my father did not have the best night's sleep last night (probably due to too much sleep in the daytime and some 'chesty' feeling he has breathing).
Right: Dato' Dr. V. Kathiresan doing his rounds


My wife and daughter arrived at 10.00am with a rack of eggs and the soft-boil egg maker. So he had his two eggs and soy sauce, for mid morning snack.
Left: Aishah watches Atuk enjoying his two half-boiled Omega LTK eggs









I took the shots of his wound, both on his chest and his right leg, when the SRN in-charge cleaned and nurse the wounds.
Right: Wound on his right leg where the veins were harvested for the three grafts on the heart








Left: The wound on the chest

Later two of his closest friends, Haji Aris Maarof (who was kind enough to organise a special prayer session at our mosque, Masjid Al Mujahiddeen) and childhood buddy Ibrahim Abd. Hamid popped by to visit a friend and express their care. He said 130 people turned up for the sembahyang hajat and doa selamat. My mother's mengaji (Quran reading) group also organised a similar prayer session.

This is Hj. Aris's second visit here in CICU. A true neighbour indeed.
Right: Hj. Aris visiting



Tan Sri Mr. Yahya Awang did his rounds at 12.45pm, after a hole-in-the-heart surgery to an 18 month old girl. When he reviewed my father's case, he concured to Dato' Dr. Kathiresan's decision.
However, I raised the point that my father was 'wheezing' as he breathe, especially lying down. So Tan Sri Mr. Yahya decided that my father should spent another night in CICU, so that he can be monitored more closely and assisted quickly, whenever he his intense cough strikes (which is a very painful experience).








Later, Dato' Dr. Kathiresan ordered my father to be given the combivent nebulizer treatment, every eight hourly to reduce his 'wheezing'. As the experienced anaesthetists explained pre-surgery, patients who smoked will suffer from intense or heavy cough and phlegm, in recovery of a coronary by-pass surgery.



I am actually surprise that for a smoker of fifty years, his cough was not that bad (I was imagining worse!). After most of the tubes were taken off, he was able to move and toss from side-to-side more freely. He should sleep better with this new 'freedom'.








After lunch, the physiotherapist Akmal came up to help him do some light and breathing exercises. He was required to move his hands and legs. Some breathing exercises too was encouraged, especially in his own time.

BTW, some will ask me why I produced the not-so-desireable photos of the coronary by-pass wounds in here. My answer is simple: I'd like to share what I learned about this experience. So many people find this surgery so "heavy" and "difficult", even too worrysome but it actually its quite bearable. I hope more people can benefit from people like me sharing my experiences here, in bloggosphere.

Tan Sri Mr. Yahya Awang, Dato' Dr. V. Kathiresan and the whole team, did a wonderful job and they have an excellent track record in Damansara Specialists Hospital. I produce all these postings, in recognition to them.