Lets Play Catch-up!

Good Morning! It's supposed to be pretty today, although winy. The last several days have been glorious, rainy, stormy springtime April days in northern Georgia!

What? You didn't know that rainy and stormy could be glorious??? Well, then obviously you don't live in an area that has suffered from three years of extreme drought conditions. An area that normally is green and verdant and watering your lawns is not only allowed, but encouraged (sorry, not any more it isn't!) and neighbors spend every weekend either at Lowes, Home Depot or at home planting to see who can have the most bloomers in their yards.

For as long as I can remember (up until spring 2006) our Georgia springs held lots of rainy days - slow, long, delightful April showers - that made for great May flowers, July tomatoes, corn, beans, and October apples! I've missed those showery April days so much!

But now, they say we are no longer in drought conditions! Allatoona Lake on the northwestern corner of Georgia is now above full pool - for the first time in ages! And my beloved (and nearby) Lake Sidney Lanier is less than 10 feet below full pool - after being almost 20 feet below for a couple of years now! Oh, how I am enjoying these springtime showers! They make my heart happy, and my spirit soar - dreaming of blooms to come!

Okay! Enough of my babble about rain! Let me catch you up on my dad and his situation.

On Tuesday we had to be at the hospital at 9:45 for pre-op for his surgery on Friday. Somehow I zoned out Tuesday morning and lost an hour. I wasn't asleep, but somehow I looked at the clock one minute and it was 7:31 and the next minute it was 8:27!!! I had to be at my parents between 9:15 and 9:30, and I wasn't bathed or dressed or even close to being ready to leave! I also hadn't eaten anything for breakfast! I normally stop at Guys Biscuit Barn and get a yummy biscuit for breakfast when I'm headed to their house, but no time for that, either!

So, I grabbed some jeans and a shirt, washed the parts of me I could get to in a hurry, dressed and was out of my house in 13 minutes flat! (So sorry girls, I didn't have time to put you out for a potty break before I left! Thankfully I had papers in the kitchen floor from yesterday!) I got to my parents by 9:15 and had to wait on them to get on jackets and make their slow way to the car. We were at the hospital at 9:41 - four whole minutes early!

While I parked the car, my parents checked in and got my dad a wheel chair. He's not too steady on his feet these days due to poor circulation in his legs. We waited a while, did the pre-registration thing, filled in more paperwork, and waited. And waited. And waited! Finally a lady came over and said "We are having to work you in whenever we can - you do know you were scheduled for pre-op tomorrow, right?" No, right here is where the doctor wrote 9:45 tomorrow, and when he wrote it - yesterday - tomorrow would have been today! And she said "Well, he was wrong and you were scheduled for tomorrow. You can come back tomorrow if you'd like."

And at the same instant my mother and I yelled "NO!!!" So we waited some more and were finally sent back to pre-op. Or at least my parents were - there was no room for me they said But before long they came and got me and the lady said "I'm sorry, I didn't realize the situation before". (What I heard was - can you come help your parents with this - they seem quite confused and befuddled and unable to answer the questions we have for them.) So of course I went and tried to help as best I could.

Now, as time went on, we began to realize something wasn't right. For one thing, the lady doing the paperwork said, now, have you stopped taking the plavix (blood thinner) and we said no. Hmmm, not good. Then she asked about the defibrillator and that since he was having general anesthesia the technician from the defibrillator company would have to come and turn off the defibrillator. No, he's not supposed to be put fully to sleep - he can't handle that! And on those points we went round and round and round.

Oh, and they needed the card that my dad had in his wallet with info about the defibrillator. He didn't have it with him, so I agreed to drop it off on my way home (a good 15 miles out of the way!). And we finally got everything situated, but I needed to call his urologist to make sure he understood my dad couldn't be put to sleep.

We went riding around for a few minutes in between pre-op and our next appt. with his primary doctor - just to get some air, you know! Got to the doctors office and my dad 'had to go' and go he did- all over himself. Thankfully my mom brought another pair of jeans and undies for him, so once in an exam room he could change clothes.

Dr. D. was really upset because the hospital had called him to get approval for the surgery, but his cardiologist, Dr. L. was the one who had to give it. It was a messy, jumbled visit, and I was glad to get out of there! But, my mom had forgotten to take some paperwork to him that he needed so I promised to bring it by when I came back to the hospital.

Anyway, I got my parents home, got the stuff I needed and headed back to the hospital. On the way I called my aunt to let her know what was going on, and as I walked the sidewalk to the hospital from the parking lot I noticed a white light flashing inside, but didn't think anything about it until I got inside and saw everyone standing around. Fire alarms were blinking! But within a couple of minutes the all clear was given and I was able to go back and leave the info with pre-op and leave. Then I dropped the paperwork off at the Dr. office and called my husband.

I was starving! It was now after 4pm and all I'd had to eat was a couple of pieces of bacon, 2 bites of a horrible biscuit, and a pop-tart. "I'm going to Cracker Barrel and eat whatever I want!" And I did!

So, Wednesday and Thursday were spent doing laundry, zoning out into oblivion, getting my hospital bag (book, mags, embroidery) packed and ready to go. I've had 3 nights of good rest, and guess I'm as ready as I'll ever be for today's events.

Oh, and they called Wed. afternoon and they will not be inserting the tube above the pelvic bone for him to drain his bladder. It is a little more invasive than he can handle, so they will simply be removing the scar tissue and inserting a catheter today. I feel much better about that!

Also, due to the way things are here, I made the executive decision to cancel our trip to Savannah for Easter week. Instead we will be going to Chattanooga, and I will be taking my car with us, which means 2 vehicles up there. But that way if I need to, I can be at my parents in about two hours, rather than the 6 or so if we had gone to Savannah. This is not what I want, but just the way it is these days. I am learning more and more "It's not about me!".

So, I would appreciate any prayers you choose to lift up for us today. My dad is very worried, and has a tendency to have heart attacks when he gets upset. After all, his heart is very diseased, and functioning at only 15%, so he can't handle stress very well. Thank you in advance, and I'll update as soon as I can.

Have a great day! Becky