Florida Vacation... and the Hospital

We got to Panama City Beach & met up with Justin's family early afternoon on Monday.  We didn't take long until we hit the beach & started enjoying the cooler, beach temperatures.

Justin's sister & her family were there as well, including their daughter Emilee, who was born the day before Kaylee.  They are awesome friends & really enjoy playing with eachother.

Each night, someone different took a turn to cook for all 10 of us that were there.  Monday night was "my" night; Justin grilled out chicken breasts for chicken fajitas & I made my homemade Tres Leches cake.  It was all delicious...

Tuesday morning while the kids & Justin went to the beach, I stayed back & booked a flight back to Arkansas to be there while Dad had surgery.  Mom had told me that she really wanted me there & since I wasn't sure how severe his situation was, I decided I needed to be there with Mom & Dad.  Ends up that his arteries were 99% clogged & 97% clogged, with the other veins all at least 75% blocked.  The Doctor had told Mom that she had gotten him to the hospital just in time & that he was just minutes away from a massive heart attack.

When I heard that & knew that he was having to have open-heart surgery on Thursday, I booked a flight out of Florida on Wednesday afternoon, which meant I was able to relax & enjoy the second part of Tuesday on the beach with my family.

Tuesday night, Justin's parents took us all out to eat at a beach seafood restaurant & gave me a nice card & graduation gift.  Shelcey's husband, Allen, had just graduated with his electrician credentials, so the dinner was considered a celebration for the both of us.

Once we were back to the hotel, we changed into our picture clothes & took our family pics on the beach -- an annual tradition...

Wednesday was my last day on the beach, and Justin & the kids' next-to-last day.  We headed to the beach after I made a run to Target to get a sweater for my trip (since I had only packed swimsuits & shorts for the beach & the rest of my week would be spent in a hospital waiting room).  I was determined to enjoy the last few hours on the beach with my family...

Justin took me to the airport on Wednesday afternoon; I got to Fort Smith around 9:00 that night & was able to go by & see Dad before Mom, Brian, Rachel & I headed to OK to get a good night's sleep.

Thursday was Dad's surgery.  We were to the hospital by 7:30 AM & had been told he would be prepped for surgery at 10:30 & under the knife by 11:30.  Well, after all that had happened, we discovered that his surgery had been delayed; the surgeon was working on my friend's Dad right before operating on MY Dad & had run into a few snags.  (Ends up my friend's Dad was fine as well...)   At about 3:00, Dad woke up from his anesthetic & asked to see us; we went back to the pre-op area & sat & talked with him for about an hour until the nurse came by & said it was getting to be time for surgery.  He didn't end up starting surgery until 5pm & we had been warned that the surgery could last from 4-7 hours.  It ended up lasting 6 hours, which means he was out at 11pm.  Brian & Rachel went home, along with about 6 others that had spent the day there with us in the waiting room.  (We were blessed to have over 30 friends & family stop by to wait with us while Dad was in surgery that day.)  

We got to see Dad at 11:30pm, then Mom & I headed to the ICU waiting room to spend the night on the couches.  We got a few hours of sleep, went to check on him a few times during the night, then was surprised to find him drinking coffee at 6:30 the next morning.  WOW!

Long story short --

Dad ended up having triple bypass surgery; heart issues run in his family & it was that that got him, not bad health or anything like that.  

Mom & I went home the 2nd night after his surgery & got a better night's sleep.  Justin & the kids drove in from Florida that day & got to their house around 10pm.  They hung out at the house on Saturday while Mom & I went back to Fort Smith to the hospital.

I left on Saturday night to go back to OK so we could hit the road back to Texas on Sunday.

Dad was moved out of ICU right before I left on Saturday night.  He has done remarkably well & got sent home from the hospital on Thursday of this past week.  He says he feels 110% better, so we're so thankful that he didn't actually have a full-on heart attack to start with.

THANK YOU ALL for your prayers and thoughts during the past few weeks.  They certainly worked & we appreciate each & every one of them.

We appreciate every call, every e-mail, every visitor we welcomed during the days leading up to his surgery, during his surgery & after his surgery.

God is good... and Dad feels great.