photo by: me 5/9/2008
i found out by way of email last night, that my father is in the hospital again.. he has been there since thursday,, as a result of an electrocardiogram that let his doctors know that they need to get in there and replace his aortic valve,, now.. they have cleansed his system of the blood thinner, coumadin,, that was prescribed when he had a serious bout with atrial fibrillation last december,, and is awaiting a time slot in surgery…
the doctor plans to catheterize him first,, as if there are any blockages they will have to be addressed first,, and then after a period of recuperation he will have to go back in for the valve replacement… needless to say,, we are hoping that the path is clear for the valve replacement the first time they go in,, as two open heart surgeries can be a real stress on anyone,, even an old redneck like my dad…
as of this moment,, we are in a holding pattern,, at the mercy of the hospital and doctors schedules.. thankfully, they are keeping him in the hospital,, and his every function is being monitored,, so we are in the best possible situation given the circumstances..
as is the norm with my family,, they do not want any of us (my sisters or myself) to be there.. as “there is nothing we can do”,, and more importantly,, despite the fact that all of us maintain a “working relationship” any of our presence would add to the stress level,, instead of provide comfort..
this whole thing has me spinning between wanting to be there and knowing that doing so,, even tho it has been requested that i don’t ,, might be adding to an already stressful situation… i just this moment got off the phone with my sister,, and she said it has been requested of her too not to come.. so i guess i don’t feel quite so bad….
so helplessly i am off to work this morning,, hoping that they can fit him in the surgery schedule before there is an emergency situation, and knowing that he is in the best place possible in the event that there is…
i’ll keep you posted…
