Post-Op Day 2 (Again)

UPDATE 8.03PM: Dear folks, just to tell you that Dad remains in ICU, heart beating away and very slowly mending again. It's still early days after a major op but he is doing fine according to the doctors.

I know there are wild rumours about but as I said, please check here. We would never hide anything very major from you.

Please do continue praying for him. He needs all that love to keep him going. And we are always telling him that all you folks are willing him on.

Thanks.


ORIGINAL POST:
Dear folks, thank you for all the kind messages. They have really touched me and my family. We will make sure that every single message will be printed out and shown to Dad when he is well enough to read them. I'm sure he will be just as touched to know how much love and support there is for him.

Some of you have asked where to send cards and emails. Of course, putting comments on my blog comes directly to me already. But if you want to send cards or letters, you can send them c/o Institute Jantung Negara, 145 Jalan Tun Razak, 50400 Kuala Lumpur. For those who prefer email, please send them c/o Sufi Yusoff at sufi71@gmail.com.

I know that yesterday and last night, there were many rumours circulating about my father's condition, some of which border on the sensational. Please be assured that my blog will give you the most accurate report on him. All the media are getting their information only from my family and from this blog. So anything that comes from elsewhere at the very least needs to be checked.

I know I said I downplayed his condition last week but I wasn't being untruthful. IJN doctors will give out the medical statements while I will do the human story behind the statements if you like. I know their statements tend to be dry and full of terminology but that's the way doctors are. What I report here will take off from there but I don't embellish. I may downplay sometimes partly so that I won't cause you undue worry but also because things go up and down all the time. Last week he would be great in the morning but not so great in the afternoon, and then great again in the morning. So I tell you about the great parts.

But it would be foolish to pretend that a heart bypass, followed very soon by another operation, are not major things to subject anyone to. So it is a big deal. Having said that, Dad is also a very strong person and the doctors weren't bluffing when they said his recovery progress is better than a lot of people. Right now they are pleased with how he's doing but they are being super-cautious because it is a day-to-day thing. We are optimistic but we also don't want to celebrate too early.

I just looked in on Dad. It's the first time I've seen him since the op. He's still very much sedated because he needs to rest. (BTW this is VERY different from saying he's 'unconscious'. They can bring him out of sedation if they want but not yet.) But he does wake up from time to time and he can hear us and respond to what we say. I told him I was there and he did a typical Dad thing: he winked! I wanted to both laugh and cry.

So, I can't thank you enough for your prayers. Once again they have helped us a lot and definitely him a great deal.