268-269 My Dad and his surgery

It is really rough when you see someone that you love with all of your heart going through something very painful.  About 4 months ago, my Dad found out that he had a cavernous hemangioma in his spinal cord in the c-2, c-3, c-4 area.  He was in a lot of pain all of the time, it kept getting worse and if he didn't have it removed, he would either be paralyzed or possibly die.  Of course, the surgery was very dangerous and those things could have happened on the table too.

After much worry and a few disputes with the doctors, surgery was scheduled.

That morning, Friday, January 13, 2012 was a very scary day.  I can only imagine being him in this situation.  I think I had been holding all of my nervous fears inside, because after I had to say goodbye to him, knowing it could possibly be the last time, I burst into tears on my way down in the elevator.  Thank goodness my Aunt Linda was down there to calm me down.

After about 3 hours, we were told that he was out of surgery and in the recovery room.  As I made my way up there, I was hoping that he would be normal.  He was up there moving his toes and his fingers and could see us just fine.  He talked and could feel us when we held his hand.  Of course, there had been a few more outbursts of tears of relief when we heard from the doctors and then got to see him.

The hospital messed up a catheter and he struggled with that quite a bit, but finally got to go home on some good medicine.

Here he is- my hero:




And here is another hero of mine taking care of him:



Staying in the hospital as a patient sucks.  Being there as a visitor is not a cakewalk either, though.  After sitting on hard chairs, sleeping in odd places and being a bundle of nerves, I took a much-needed break today and stayed home from work.  I slept until about 11:00am...I guess I needed the day.
Now, we just have to get my Mom fixed and hopefully they can just enjoy life for a while!