photo of me, with both of my parents on their wedding day 4/6/1963
for those of you that have been inquiring as to the status of my fathers health,, i just want to let you know that he was catheterized,, and one stent was implanted,, there was no need for bypass surgery.. which is comforting in the fact that now they only have to open the chest once,, and in my book,, once is more than enough…
currently,, he has been sent home for a period of 4-6 weeks in order to build up his red blood cell count.. he is being given drugs called EPO’s which from my research are naturally occurring steroids produced by the kidneys that are often suppressed in individuals that have certain ailments,, one of them being heart disease.. the fact that he is one of jehovah’s witnesses and insists on having the aortic valve replacement surgery with no infusion of human blood,, i would imagine is a motivating factor here,, as they need to make sure the blood he does have will have all the essential elements to carry him thru the procedure and lengthy recovery…
the surgeon who will be performing the surgery has performed this bloodless surgery literally hundreds of times,, and to quote my mother,, “never lost a patient,” so the level of optimism is high…
he is being attended to by home nursing staff three times a week in order to monitor his condition and administer the EPO’s,, and as long as he does not suffer an “episode” before the surgery,, things are for the moment looking as good as can be expected..
i thank all of you fro your concern,, and promise to keep you updated…
