To sum it up, my Dad was admitted to the hospital a few days before my birthday for chest pain. Multiple tests over the course of a few days and labs showed that he had one heart valve that needed replaced and one that needed repaired. Surgery was scheduled for Feb. 4th - the day after my birthday. He was in a hospital that was about 45 minutes away. But that didn't matter - all that mattered was that my Dad was sick and I had to be there with him.
Surgery was done as scheduled and he did well. Luckily he had no blockages which could have complicated the surgery. There are 2 snapshots in time that will never ever be erased from my head. The first is being with my Mom and watching her slip away almost 15 years ago and the second is seeing how frail my Dad looked after surgery hooked up to all those machines. Now you have to understand that I am a nurse and have been there with patients as they slipped away and I've seen patients on breathing machines before but NOTHING, and I mean NOTHING, is worse than seeing someone you love in those situations.
Dad has had a few rough spots over the past week since his surgery and required a pacemaker insertion due to his heart not adjusting to being cut into for the valve repair but he's finally out of the Surgical Intensive Care unit and in a regular room.
To those of you who offered positive thoughts and prayers for him, I thank you with all my heart!! It truly has helped - both him and me!!!
Kate - if you're reading this, you just can't know how your simple gift touched my heart at a time when I needed it most! thanks so much Sweetie!!!
And I leave you with a layout about that milestone birthday titled "No candles for me"
You can read the journaling HERE - I'd love to hear what you have to say about it!
thanks for stopping by!!
7 comments:
Wow! You took the milestone of your 40th birthday and turned it into the greatest gift of all: LOVE. Your positive energy is uplifting!
Great journaling on the layout. Hope your dad is continuing to do better. Like you the age is only a number. I was 61 a few months ago and now I'm looking forward to reaching my 62nd birthday in December. Yippee I'll be able to collect Social Security, LOL
the journaling is fantastic on that LO. You have such a fantastic attitude!
Keep that attitude up and you'll live a very long life. I love the layout! Happy Belated Birthday.
Beautiful layout, I love the no photo design.
I hope you're dad is up and about soon. It's good that the surgery went well.
Hope you have a great day!
Hope your dad recovers quickly.
Great layout!
Wonderful layout! I love the journaling. Your attitude about this is very inspiring. I hope your dad improves swiftly and gets to go home soon. I can't imagine seeing my dad in that situation, so I totally empathize with you. It would break my heart.
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