So, last Friday, Chris’s dad, Billy had a stress test and was immediately admitted to the hospital. Within an hour, I think, he had a heart cath. They told him that he had at least one complete blockage and needed a triple bypass surgery. It was originally planned for the following Monday, but ended up being Tuesday which meant that Billy just had to chill out at the hospital for four days just waiting around for open heart surgery. Not my idea of a relaxing weekend. Talk about stress.
His surgery was scheduled for 6 am Tuesday morning and the family was instructed to be there by a shocking 5 am! So bright and early we woke and dragged ourselves to the hospital. When we got there, we found out that kids couldn’t come back and see him so my brother in law, Johnny and I waited outside the room while the others visited him. Well, turns out the anesthesiologist was late and he didn’t roll out to surgery until after 7 am! Johnny and I were going crazy waiting with the kids who were surprisingly awake and raring to go.
We then headed to the large surgery waiting area. We knew his surgery was supposed to be three hours, but could even be four hours. At 8:15 they called to let us know that they had started the surgery 15 minutes earlier.
After 11 am, they called us to let us know he was out of surgery and we headed back to get the report from the doctor. There was a tiny room in the hall and as the large group of us made our way there, a nurse breezed out and said a bit too brusquely, “Okay, they all need to be in the room, and the door needs to be closed.”
Then, when the doctor came back, there was this moment before he said anything where he paused and took a breath and gave the appearance that he was about to deliver bad news. It was the type of moment when your heart skips a beat and you hold your breath waiting for the news.
Billy came through the surgery well and is recovering exceptionally. He is off the IV and chest tubes and was even up today walking in the hall. He should be discharged Friday or Saturday maybe will probably be out of work for 6 weeks or so.
Everyone was so shocked to hear that he had to go through this, but we are soooo thankful that he looks to be doing so well and should be up and running soon!
Phew! You’ve had a lot going on lately! Hope the stress hasn’t gotten to YOU too much! Don’t forget to relax and take care of yourself and the little one.
Praying for you!
Glad to hear that the surgery went well and he’s recovering nicely.
I am such a baby… I actually started tearing up when you were talking about the Doctor coming out and pausing like he was delivering bad news. So glad that he is doing so well. I can’t wait to see him up and running around. :)