Jeff--
My Dad went through by-pass surgery twelve years ago. The thing that bothered him most was having to leave his teeth in his room when he went to surgery. He came through beautifully, as I'm sure will be the case with your Pa. And Hollowfox is exactly right. When I had my artificial hip installed, I scheduled it over Christmas so that a) I wouldn't have to use up a lot of my sick days, and b) so that I could get the benefit of additional attention from the ward staff.
I try to get to my office around five o'clock every morning, so that I can spend some quiet time on some special concerns before the day's craziness starts; I'll remember your dad on Tuesday.