My father was scheduled to have open heart surgery bright and early this past Monday morning but got postponed over the weekend to Tuesday. It made for one more day of anxiousness but we survived.

Since the hospital is 45 minutes from our home and Daddy had to be there at 5:30 in the morning, Michael and I had to get up at 3:45 to be there to see him before he had to disappear, or so we thought.

We arrived and found my youngest sister was there already. Shortly thereafter a gentleman was wheeled into the hospital by a man and another woman. The man looked at us and said, who knew you needed an entourage to come to the hospital. We chuckled and when they were out of earshot I said, He had no idea he was talking to an even bigger entourage. Then in came my parents and my sister. There were the 6 of us, traipsing through the hospital together.

They were great, allowing all of us to tag along through the different stops along the way. The nurses at Hillcrest Hospital North were absolutely wonderful.

Michael and I, Daddy, and Tracie and Sondra (Mom took the picture) just prior to surgery.

Daddy was so much more relaxed at this point than when he arrived at the hospital. We were able stay and visit with him for the majority of the two and a half hours before surgery. During the surgery they were very good to call us and keep us informed of their progress. It was a 4-5 hour surgery. My brother-in-law and nieces came at a more reasonable hour and he’d gone into surgery.

Everything went great and we girls went over to await him in CV-ICU, where he stayed for only 2 days instead of the supposed 3 days. He had some amazing nurses and received great care! Yesterday he moved out of ICU and took an uneventful first walk . . . well, it was his second walk but the one the night before ended with a little heart sidestep but they were able to get it back in sync and he walked a good walk yesterday without incident.

Lots less baggage this time around, because they removed many of the tubes already here. Doing better!

He’s so strong! Did really good!

They have this “coughing buddy” that the heart patient is supposed to hug when coughing and moving, which helps keep him from using his arms to push himself up and stressing his chest/incision. He and Mom thought it was a joke at first, but soon realized it for the tool it really is.

I’m soooo glad he’s doing so well. I stayed with them the first night because quite frankly it was a bit scary and I didn’t think Mom should go through it alone. Since they ask all visitors to leave the CV-ICU for an hour and a half each morning and evening, I decided to go back up before the sun came up to be with her while she was banished.

It was a good day with some good milestones and good memories. I’m so glad God helped Daddy and kept him here for us. My baby sister told him before he went into surgery that he had to make a deal with her: If he saw any bright lights he was to go the other way and come back to us. When he roused from anesthesia, he said he didn’t see any bright lights. He had a great surgeon and a Great Physician looking after him. The surgeon said the aneurysm was quite . . . well, let’s just say, it was a good thing they did the surgery when they did and now Daddy is doing good.

I hope you have a blessed weekend! We sure are because the surgeon says he will probably come home this weekend.

Until next time, God bless,

Michele ºÜº