Need some suggestions!

[momdebo, BSN, RN]

Bear with me, this may be a little long. Looking for info for Chicago area hospitals that can do AAA repair with stent and also has a good pulmonary dept. The situation: 65 yo father needed AAA repair, was planned as open, went for standard cardiac clearance, flunked ST, had cath, 100% block of LAD and circ, unable to stent, went for CABG, also, pulm. function test completed pre-op, passed out during testing, went completely unaddressed. underwent cabg, first couple of days went great, I told the surgeon that dad was a pack a day smoker until he quit in Feb, has an awful cough, very violent, had at times blacked out when episode was prolonged, advised the surgeon that needed to be addressed after he was extubated or we would have sternal difficulties, nothing was done, cough resumed about 4 days post cabg and 7 days post op was back in surgery for sternal repair, he had fx the sternum in 5 places and was 80% unzipped, just from the cough. :angryfire This whole time I kept asking for pulmonary involvement, they would make rounds, write recommendations in the chart but no one was ordering anything. dad was discharged 17 days after the cabg, still on 02, still sob, took him to our local cardiologist who did a cxr, showed pneumonia, was admitted to local hospital for tx. by our pulmonary guy. still need AAA repair, now it has to be stent, no longer a candidate for open d/t recent hx. so we have to travel to the big hospitals that do the stent, need advise/suggestions for chicago area hospitals that do the AAA stent and also has good pulm. docs. Thanks for bearing with my novel and for any info or opinions anyone can give.

[VivaLasViejas, ASN, RN]

I'm sorry your father is going through all this.

Unfortunately, medical advice is beyond the scope of a nursing bulletin board, and we cannot offer suggestions as to where the best facilities are in your area. Your best bet would be to ask your father's primary-care physician for a referral, or to call a physician referral network to get information on doctors and hospitals.

Good luck to you and your father in your search.