Heart Surgery and More

It's been a rough week. Kasey our cat had to go in to get spaded. Since the operation this past Thursday, she has had bad diarrhea and has now developed a hernia. Normally this would be the gist of the post. But the reality this week also saw a development I thought I would never have to report. On the same day Kasey went under the knife, I was taking my father to the hospital for a scheduled quadruple bypass. My father is a lucky one. He did not ignore the pains in his chest, or the tingling in his arm, the way his father had. he went and got tested. Sure enough they found enough blockages to make it serious. On Wednesday of last week they told him they would call him in during the next three weeks for surgery. It turned out it only took 24 hours after someone else's surgery was canceled due to them mistakenly popping Plavex (a blood thinner). I got the call mid-afternoon on Thursday at work.

"Hi Adrian, it's your father. I need you to come get me after work and take me to the hospital."
"Oh. Is it another test?"
"No, I am going in for the surgery. They just called me. See you at 6 PM. Please don't be late."

Trying to remain composed at work, I closed out the day as quickly as possible and drove my dad to the hospital. I stayed with him until I could stay no longer. Friday was the fateful day for surgery. His sister Simone was to fly in that morning and my sister was ensuring she got there to be with him as well. Knowing he was in good hands, and feeling helpless, I went to work Friday. I did not have the ability to sit in a hospital counting minutes until surgery started. It had been scheduled for 7:45 am, but it was pushed out to noon due to an emergency case. At 12:10 on Friday my father was cut open, and Dr. Ma skilfully healed my father. When I arrived after work, my father was just out of surgery. He was groggy, sleepy and totally out of it, but I knew he knew I was there. I left him after spending a couple of minutes by his side. I knew he needed his rest and didn't want to take away from the healing powers of the body. I returned to the hospital early yesterday, as I have every day this long weekend in Canada. He will be coming home this Friday (I hope) to begin his full recovery back to his normal self. Already he was joking, asking about the family, and enjoying Jello, mashed potatoes and turkey. It's been a tough week, but I thank God for my family and people like O and her family. I cannot imagine what would have happened had this been a couple years ago without them. I also hope you understand if I don't write for the next little while. But I'll try my best to keep you up to date.