A.J. Foyt released from hospital, recovering at home

A.J. Foyt

A.J. Foyt was released from Baylor-St. Luke's Medical Center Tuesday afternoon and is recovering at home from his Nov. 12 triple bypass heart surgery.

Although his heart surgery was successful, Foyt developed serious complications with his lungs. He was kept on a ventilator for eight days to allow his lungs to recover full functionality. Ten days in the Intensive Care Unit was followed by an additional 10 days in the hospital. The four-time Indianapolis 500 winner's stay was his longest ever—a total of 25 days from when he was admitted Nov. 7 with chest pains.

"It's been pretty rough but I guess I slept through the roughest part," said Foyt, who will turn 80 in January. "I had some problems that most people don't have after open heart surgery so I made my doctors work extra hard but they saved my life. We've turned a corner so everything's pretty good. I've got a long way to go but I'm feeling better every day."

Foyt is expected to make a full recovery but his doctors have explained to him that it may take longer than he is anticipating. For Foyt, that is called motivation.