So Very Thankful

This past week has been a little difficult with my dad's heart surgery looming over my head.  I can't say that I handled it with much grace, but I got through it with the encouragement of my friends and knowing that so many people were thinking about my family.

The surgery itself was bumped up from tomorrow to yesterday.  He went in at 5am and then was in surgery by 7am.  My mom stayed at the hospital through the entire procedure and did a good job at sending out updates, but I was still very anxious.  I had faith in the surgeon but it's all up in the air until the final word is out.  In the morning I cleaned the house and my car to try and pass the time, I read a little bit, and then met Alex before he went off to practice.  I was close to dropping him off when he got a text from my mom saying my dad came out with a new bovine heart valve...what the heck, how did he know before me!?  Apparently my mom tried to call me but it didn't go through.  Hmmm, suspicious :)

Allan gave me the day off of work and so I came home to relax and try to de-stress.  I still had to wait to hear about the final stages of the procedure, but the hardest part was over and that allowed me to steady my heart rate a little bit.  I tried to read but couldn't really concentrate so kind of just occupied myself with random activities.  It wasn't until 10pm that my mom was able to get the message to me that he was extubated (but still sleeping) and she actually sent me a picture, which made my day.  He tried to wave to me and I definitely give him an A for effort.

I know I speak for my entire family when I say thanks to all of you who had us in your thoughts and prayers over the past couple of days.  I'm excited to see what this does for my dad and so happy to know that he'll be feeling better soon.  According to my mom he's STILL sleeping (going on 24 hours!) but for now it's ok because that's the best opportunity for his body to heal.  I'm hoping I'll get to talk to him tomorrow and I might be able to get home this weekend or next to see him...all new and improved, yay!!

Also worth noting:  Last year at this time I had just arrived in Australia and was trying to get all of the pieces of the puzzle to fall into place.  Crazy to think about all that can happen in one short year!