(Taken June 22,2009, right before surgery)
A year ago today,
was the beginning of a summer we will never forget.
My parents' trip out to watch our kids while we went to a homeschool convention,
turned into a 6 week stay. (Bouncing between the VA hospital and our house.)
The night of June 16, 2009 was when we spent all night in an ER
and finding out that dad had a mild heart attack,
which then followed with finding out he needed open heart surgery.
The weeks then followed with a few complications:
~the night after surgery his blood pressure was dropping dangerously low.
I remember clearly walking into SICU throughout the night to check on him.
He was trying to communicate but couldn't because of the ventilator.
I had the feeling of complete helplessness.
~a wound that needed a wound vac, and in-home nursing visits
~a blood clot in the lung, that required another week in the hospital
~having such thin blood,
because they were trying to regulate his blood thinner from the clot,
that we had to make another trip to the ER
A year later,
dad is doing well.
~He lost some weight.
~He is exercising throughout the week.
~He is on the go.
He used to drive us and sit in the car, now he is out shopping with us,
helping my sisters wash cars,
and doing other things like that.
~His attitude towards life and others is just a little better.
A couple of weeks ago was the first visit back to Colorado since the whole ordeal started.
Dad had some trepidation with coming
and I know the memories came flashing back as soon as he arrived.
As the week went on, I could tell that dad was becoming more relaxed.
Hopefully is won't be a whole year before they visit again.
was the beginning of a summer we will never forget.
My parents' trip out to watch our kids while we went to a homeschool convention,
turned into a 6 week stay. (Bouncing between the VA hospital and our house.)
The night of June 16, 2009 was when we spent all night in an ER
and finding out that dad had a mild heart attack,
which then followed with finding out he needed open heart surgery.
The weeks then followed with a few complications:
~the night after surgery his blood pressure was dropping dangerously low.
I remember clearly walking into SICU throughout the night to check on him.
He was trying to communicate but couldn't because of the ventilator.
I had the feeling of complete helplessness.
~a wound that needed a wound vac, and in-home nursing visits
~a blood clot in the lung, that required another week in the hospital
~having such thin blood,
because they were trying to regulate his blood thinner from the clot,
that we had to make another trip to the ER
A year later,
dad is doing well.
~He lost some weight.
~He is exercising throughout the week.
~He is on the go.
He used to drive us and sit in the car, now he is out shopping with us,
helping my sisters wash cars,
and doing other things like that.
~His attitude towards life and others is just a little better.
A couple of weeks ago was the first visit back to Colorado since the whole ordeal started.
Dad had some trepidation with coming
and I know the memories came flashing back as soon as he arrived.
As the week went on, I could tell that dad was becoming more relaxed.
Hopefully is won't be a whole year before they visit again.
(These were taken June 5, 2010 right before they headed back home.)
