AUSTIN, Texas -- The heart surgery was easy. Making Nolan Ryan slow down from now on will be the tough part.
Surgeons who operated on the Hall of Fame pitcher expect him to recover quickly from the emergency double bypass procedure they performed Sunday.Ryan himself is responsible for much of that prognosis. Doctors and family members say the 53-year-old former pitcher has the body of a much younger man, thanks to daily walks, weightlifting and swimming.
Austin surgeon Mark Felger, who performed the two-hour operation, said Ryan shouldn't drive for two weeks and shouldn't do heavy lifting for two-three months. He can return to his regular work schedule with the Round Rock Express, the minor league team he co-owns, in a couple of weeks.
Reese Ryan, the youngest of Ryan's sons, said Monday it will be hard persuading his father to take it easy.
"I think that is going to be one of his biggest obstacles," Reese Ryan said.
Ryan was in stable condition Monday night and was in good spirits at Austin Heart Hospital, said his eldest son, Reid Ryan.
"He's doing much, much better," Reid Ryan said. "He did get up a little while ago and walked for the first time down the hall."
Reid said fans told him they could not believe his father had bypass surgery, because they thought of him as someone who could cheat time.
"It was almost like someone brought kryptonite to Superman," Reid Ryan said.
Ryan began feeling ill Sunday when he and his wife, Ruth, were in the Austin suburb of Round Rock to watch the Express.
Ryan reported chest pains and breathing trouble as he and his wife strolled through the Dell Diamond, the Express' new $25 million stadium.
She drove him to the Round Rock Medical Center. Doctors there referred Ryan to the Austin Heart Hospital, where the surgery was performed at 3 p.m.