Open Heart

A long slow drip and a 3 hour ambulance ride to the heart hospital.

Those of you who are also friends on Facebook are aware that my Dad had a heart attack last week.  (Drove himself and my Mom to the hospital!)   Monday’s blog is coming our early because tomorrow at 11am he is scheduled for open heart surgery.  They are going to replace a valve in his heart with a pig valve.  (We’ve already started the teasing.)

It’s been almost 20 years since my Dad’s last heart attack.  He walks 45 min every day.  He watches his diet carefully.  The angiogram report was better this time than it was 20 years ago!  No one saw this coming.

He’s in good spirits, cracking jokes with the staff and generally causing trouble.  When they met the cardiologist asked about my Dad’s medical background.  Dad told him he’d worked as a psychiatric social worker years ago.  The cardiologist quipped maybe they’d met back then.  Dad, always quick with a straight line responded, “I don’t like to discuss my failures.”

Dad out enjoying the hospital balcony. I spent a lot of post-surgery time here myself last July!

We’re all looking to get through this crisis but there’s still a ways to go.  Dad’s already planning to use this as his excuse to finally get an ultra-light canoe.  Thoughts and prayers are welcome, not only for Monday’s surgery but for the typically lengthy recovery.  (And for the sanity of those of us who are going to have to find ways around the lifting, driving and (as Dad is very pleased to tell you) vacuuming that he won’t be doing for awhile.)