cardiac

i just talked to my dad!!! he's doing very well.

his surgery was a success. the doctors were very pleased. it was a long wait from the time he arrived and the time they started the operation but it sounds like he waited patiently. the staff were great. as he lay on the table and they drew lines on him and all sorts of things they got him talking about his grandkids, how old they are and what they're like. i thought it was so lovely and professional of them to distract him and get him talking about something he really cares about.

when he came out of the anethesia later in the afternoon he was very disoriented and began pulling out the IVs. we've since learned that this is a common side affect but when we first heard how he was doing we were quite alarmed. the nurse said he's like a bowl in a china shop and they were trying to stop him from hurting himself or reopening his sterum. they needed to restrain him and although i'm sure that wouldn't help his disoriented state i knew it was important to protect him. in speaking with frank today, i discovered that the same thing happened to him after surgery once and he was tied down for 2 days (and has no memory of it). they thought it was in quite a bit of pain so they increased his pain medication and he soon calmed down.

i called this morning for an update and got to talk to him. that was really fun. his voice was rough and quiet but he was fully lucid. he said he came to around 11:00. he told me "the only problem has been that my machine" (for dialysis) "isn't working properly". this made me giggle secretly a little since he has no idea about last night's problem. he later told me that apparently he was very disoriented last night, but didn't remember any of it. that's good. joy was very upset at the time that he might be feeling afraid so i'm glad that he has no memory of it.

he was so grateful for all the people who've been praying and i told him about the messages i received from my cousins wishing him well. i think it meant a lot to him to hear that his brother and sister-in-law were praying for him - i don't think they've talked in years, it's nice the way this sort of thing can remind people that they really do care about their relatives.

i'm so thankful that he made it to the surgery without having a heart attack. i'm looking forward to seeing my dad return to good health. i don't think he realized how limited his energy has been.

me+b and joy are going to go in to see him this evening and he was really happy to hear that. i'm looking forward to seeing him. plus i'm always happy to visit people at the hospital. it's a unique environment that i became quite familiar with when i worked there in my salad days. i'm glad i did house keeping instead of kitchen duty because it gave me the chance to go into pretty much all departments of the hospital. except the morgue. i have no idea where the morgue is. i was always a little worried that i'd stumble into it by accident.

anyways, another life experience has been had. and i'm very thankful.

you're going to be fine.