Pray for Dad's Comfort

I finally got home from the hospital at 1:30 ish tonight. Thanks so much for the wonderful words of comments and especially for the prayers. They are what got us through this tough day.

It seemed to be a day of waiting and calling and more waiting; and for my dear daddy, a day of poking and prodding, and pricking and ... well if you have spent a little time in a hospital with a patient or as a patient, you know the drill.

They found two blocked arteries during the catherization today. Now remember, Dad had 5 bypasses back in 1999. We were not able to see the cardio vascular surgeon today as we had hoped, but he sure put pre-op tests on the fast track. Dad's primary care Dr. came by for rounds and said there was something suspicious about the tear in the aorta! I wasn't in the room to ask questions at that time. I wish I had been there.

Later, a nurse practitioner came in and said due to the finding of the blockages, the cardiologist and surgeon were studying the films to decide as to what would be the best procedure for dad; stints or bypasses. They were leaning toward bypasses. Mom, Dad, and I gave her a look of shock as we hadn't heard the words "blockage and bypass surgery" yet! Dad slept through his cath and all the way back to his room. Mom had stepped out to the Critical Care Unit waiting room to wait with two friends for dad's return from the procedure. It seems that since Dad was still sleeping, he didn't get to hear anything about the findings! So we were taken aback with the words "double by pass surgery"! She apologized for being the one to spring the news on us, as she thought dad had conversed with he Dr. after his cath. Well, we digested that a moment, then moved on.

My poor dad was so exhausted by the end of the day. He had the CAT scan Wed. night after being treated in the emergency room. First thing Thursday morning, they performed the cath on him. Once back in his room, a couple of lung specialists came in to listen to his breathing and to prod and poke dad on his left side. It seems the CAT scan showed three spots on his lungs. Final analysis was they were old from days gone by, possibly because dad smoked in his youth up until his salvation in the sixties.

A technician came in soon after to perform an ultra-sound on both of his carotid arteries. This was took a half hour or more to complete.

A techinician came in to have him perform a 15 minute breathing test as part of pre-op.

The nurses through out the day did all the normal prodding and poking, checking where the cath tube was inserted, making dad cough, shots, pills, oxygen...but dad is not a complainer and he endured like a real trooper!

He had a TB test and more blood drawn before I hugged him goodnight and left to let him rest. I was blessed to get a couple of different occasions to be alone with him today. When we told the new nurse on duty that we were waiting and hoping to see a Dr. to find out what our next plan of action would be, she said she had the report that nothing would be done before Monday! I don't know if its due to having a full schedule for the heart surgeon, or because its a holiday weekend. One wonders. It's in God's hands though.

Rita, the last thing I told him was that you had called and told me to give him a hug especially from you. I could tell that meant a lot to him!

We had been told the surgeon sometimes doesn't get to pop into the rooms until midnight. Mom insisted on waiting around until then! Finally at about 12:45 we all headed our separate ways. We had a few very funny moments in the waiting room tonight! For those of you who know our family, it will come as no surprise to you that there were times we were afraid of being kicked out of the hospital for being too noisy or too happy! At one point tonight, my 2 sons and hubby and I were there with Mom. My nephew and his girlfriend were there and my brother John. We had the waiting room to ourselves for quite awhile and dad was resting in his room. We made some pretty powerful memories! I took some photos of the craziness that ensued as we all got tired and "juiced" from the caffeine we were taking in!

I know my sister and family are with us in spirit. I wish I could twinkle my nose and bring her and Jackie here from their perspective countries. I have to rest in the fact that God knows their hearts and will bring them comfort. I'm so sorry sis that you aren't here where you would like to be right now.

One more thing for tonight. I'd like to share a real blessing with you all. Please go to http://www.crowniesmom.blogspot.com/ to read a wonderful tribute one of the members of my dad's church wrote about him today. Thanks, more news tomorrow I'm sure.
I'm so sorry this was extremely long!