Jun
2013

Poppa is on the mend!!!

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I was worried about Poppa this week with his surgery but on Tuesday night the ICU nurses let me see him even though kids weren’t supposed to be in there. It made him just as happy to see me as I was to see him!

He said

The day we were nervously awaiting, came and went without any real snags. Dad went down for his surgery at 8:00 am on the nose and was back out exactly at the time they told Mom and Matthew he might be wrapped up by. The cardiologist came in to see Mom as they closed him up to let him know that everything was a success and that she was very happy with how it went. In fact, in stead of doing the two bypasses they wanted to, they were able to do the third they were not certain they could. So the sum total was a triple bypass — a pretty impressive hat trick for him!

They told us that he wasn’t quite out of the woods — that the 24 to 48 hours following the surgery in recovery was the most important hurdle. But, if he passed that, he should be in pretty good shape. They ended up keeping him sedated for 12 hours longer because of a mild heart episode he had when they tried to remove one of the tubes in his neck, he was awake that we could go see by Tuesday at noon. Aside from being very groggy and confused about the entire day he lost, it was great to see his open eyes. He was in a lot of pain (I guess that comes with getting your chest broken open), but he still managed to have his trademark quick-wit in his arsenal!

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And with each passing day this week, every time we got over to visit, he just kept looking better and better. In fact by Saturday they were saying that he should be ready to come home today. However when they were testing him this morning to confirm he was okay, he had some mild arrhythmia, and decided to keep him another day to be certain all was well. We’re pretty certain the arrhythmia is more byproduct of his noisy neighbours up at all hours keeping him up as he is such a light sleeper. The neighbours were bad enough that every other patient had complained and the family were given a warning. Dad apparently had his bags packed and was ready to move out of the hospital Friday night at 2:00 am.

So with any luck he should be home to convalesce in much quieter, comfortable setting by tomorrow. It was a huge relief to see how much like clockwork and to-the-book this went!

And with that behind us, Danielle, Emelia and I were able to sneak down to Toronto for the day for the concert that we had bought tickets to months and months ago. Arts & Crafts records hosted a special concert to commemorate their tenth anniversary. The label is home to a large chunk of my most favourite bands: Jason Collett, Zeus, Dan Mangan, Hayden, Timber Timbre, Stars, Feist, and Broken Social Scene all played the concert in the historic Old Fort York. It was touted a family friendly day complete with plenty of activities both kids and their parents. It was what really sold us on the day in the first place. But, to be honest, with Broken Social Scene on the bill I would have found any reason to be there.

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With that said the day was perfect. We packed lunches and snacks and were up at a reasonable hour after having breakfast, and headed down to Toronto by 10:00 am. By noon we were inside the Fort taking in the music. One stage was set inside the Fort barriers, the other on the ‘Commons‘ outside.

It was a uniquely cool setting, with the only drawback being the bottleneck of the Fort gates to get from one stage to the other, and the scheduling not allowing enough time to get from one band to the next on the alternating stages. But, the kids area and activities more than made up for it. There was everything for all of us and it made for the most perfect day with Danielle and Emelia for I. I can’t think of a better day to share with them: all of my loves music, friends, Danielle and Emelia.

And that was the best part. Of course our friend Dawn was there. But we also ran into friends I’ve made from all over the country through CBC Radio 3. And then we also ran into our friend Pam who we had not seen in twenty years since we were all at University of Windsor together.

We wrapped our day lying on a blanket on the grass as Emelia and a newfound friend built tents and played under our Ikea umbrellas while Broken Social Scene played one of my favourite albums You Forgot It In People, backdropped by the CN Tower… It was perfect and fitting moment for me and my family. The perfect remedy to all that has been on our minds as of late…

 

She said

I am exhausted so I am going to keep my part quite simple as John has summed up the positive highlight of an otherwise stressful and exhausting week.

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Saturday was the perfect distraction of what has been one of the longest weeks in John’s family’s lives in many years. We could not be happier with the progress Doug is making but the week has been a long one. The family has pulled together as all strong families do in a time of need. John, his brothers and the rest of the family have all taken their turns taking turns not only helping with the needs that Doug has had at the hospital but also the needs of Helen.

We have been happy to help but we will all have to be more than honest that it will be a relief for everyone when Doug is released. We worry because he is not getting enough sleep at the hospital but also worry with the travel for Helen with us back and forth to the hospital. Helen has been dealing with her own medical issues this week that boys have been taking turns helping out with.

All in all we are more than happy to help the parents who have been in our corners no matter what we need but we will be happy when the parents are together back under one roof so we can divide our time helping out as needed at home. But more importantly having Doug at home means he is even further on the road to recovery, one that will allow him to be healthy and happy – what else could we wish for?

Today was a busy one for sure, we had thought Doug was coming home so we had started to get that in place. But with the doctor not 100% comfortable with his release we took turns doing a bunch of errands, helping clean the house, clean the yard, take care of the gardens, and help with other household chores. Emelia was our little helper today offering at any turn to do her part. She really made me proud, taking in account she is one tired girl from our late night last night.

So what our hope is that this time next week we can talk about Doug being nicely settled in at home, that we have celebrated a quite Father’s Day together and have a happy family under one roof.

This is hoping for a much quieter week!

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