Well, Monday, we were told late in the afternoon that dad would be moved out of ICU. When we went to see him at his 5:30 visitation, his heart rate was up (atrial fibrillation is the medical term). So, he had to stay one more night. Tuesday found dad in a good mood and feeling good. He sat up more and more. In the afternoon, we were told, once again, that he would be moved to a room. By 5:30, he had a room and was set to go in it by 8 last night…and he did!!! We’re thrilled.

I left shortly after finding out and we made it home late last night. Fortunately, Mark is home today and we’re able to get things caught up so we can have a normal routine hopefully tomorrow.

Dad’s room is 336. If anyone wants to email him (he would so appreciate it) click here. Again, his name is George Britt.

Please continue to pray for him and our family as he is recovering. My mom said that she slept really hard last night. Dad slept good until they came in to take his vitals. He still has some fluid in his lungs and they are trying to get that cleared up. When I left, he was still on oxygen and I assume he still is. He’s also having to do breathing exercises to help clear out his lungs.

Granddaddy is still in ICU. It’s been one thing after another. Here’s the lowdown:

Saturday: We’re told probably by the afternoon he could go in a room off the ICU unit. But wait, his heart rate increases (130). Throughout the day it is high. They give him something to bring it down and it bottoms out. So, they give him something to bring it up and it goes up high. By the end of the day, it’s down to the 90s. So, we’re told tomorrow he’ll go into a room.

Sunday: We go to see him in the morning with the doctor. He says he’s going to a room today. At our early afternoon visit, we walk in and they are finishing up x-rays. His oxygen level had decreased. They put him on oxygen and it went up but when they took the oxygen mask off, it went down. The x-ray revealed fluid on the lungs and they gave him medication. By our first evening visit, he was off the mask (much to his relief…he said it stunk). He was also running a fever. But a praise: They got him up to sit and he got dizzy. The second time he got up to sit, he got nauseous. The third time was a charm and he was able to sit up for a good bit to entertain all his visitors.

Monday: So here we are, still in CVICU and waiting to see Daddy, again. We’re told this morning or this afternoon he’ll get in a room.

We have no need to complain. Dad and all of us have been very blessed. We have had to watch one family lose a loved one and another re-enter surgery. It’s heartbreaking but through it all, God has showed us how blessed we are to have had a few minor setbacks. The staff here is overwhelmingly sweet. They have been so good to dad and to us. We are truly grateful to all of them.

Oh, we now have all the kids. I’m able to spendmre time with Mark, but please pray for him as he helps and works so hard to care for them.

More later…

He is out of surgery. It lasted about 3 hours. He had to have a quintuple bypass (5 bypasses). He looked really good. He was still unconscious. They still had the breathing tube in him but would take it out once they know he’s stabilized.

Okay, it wouldn’t be my family without a funny update!

Here goes: We all got to go back to see him in ICU right after they got him situated. So, we went in and there was another patient next to dad. My mom and everyone else started heading over to the other man (who was quite a bit older and very bald headed). My mom went so far as to lean over him. He didn’t look in very good shape and mom was trying to keep her composure. The nurse “whoo hooed!” us over and we went over to dad. Mom held it to gather as he explained everything and then as we were exiting the ICU, she started to cry and grabbed my hand. Then she started giggling. As she was giggling, she said she was so glad he looked so good and that she really thought that the other patient was dad. We all lost it. Mom kept saying she was wondering what in the world they had done to him!

And: My cousin was having problems with her contacts, so before we went back to see Dad, my aunt (her mother/dad’s sister) told her to take her contacts out and she would be her guide. My cousin is virtually blind without contacts. Well, in all the excitment of going to see Dad, my aunt forgot she was supposd to be leading my cousin and she was walking with her arms out in front trying to find her way. She said she couldn’t even see my dad in the bed.

Oh, the joys of being in my family! While we have waited and prayed for Dad, we have reminicsed, laughed, and giggled over our family antics!

Please continue to pray for Dad. He is worrid bout possibly having depression after the surgery. I praise God that he has helped him through this and kept him safe from anything more serious.

His surgery is scheduled for today at 1. I just found out that emails can be sent to him via the hospital. Anyone who wants to send an email, go to St. Joseph’s. His full name is George Timothy Britt.

It looks like he’ll have surgery tomorrow. The clan is all gathered and my mom and her best friend are thoroughly sleep deprived and GOOFY!

Thanks for all the prayers. Please continue to pray tomorrow!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MARY! Thanks for spending it being a big support for Mom!

We’re still not sure when his surgery will be. The doctor did not detect a serious heart murmur which is good but they still have to get the arteries cleaned up. We’ll be leaving soon, so please continue to pray.

I’m not 100% that I’ll be able to up date since we don’t own a laptop, so I’ll try and post if I can and if not, then “no news is good news!”

Oh, and my dad is on the cardiac icu and Josiah can’t be up there, so Mark and I will have to split up and divide our time. Not exactly how I pictured spending a getaway with hubby!

Please pray that Josiah does okay. Interruptions to his routine are hard for him at this age and he can get pretty fussy (even with the sling), so please pray that he just doesn’t and that he is good for Mark.

I know I haven’t actually written anything in awhile. Life here is busy. I guess I have my “hands full.”

My dad went last week for a “routine” stress test per his doctor after his physical during Christmas break. It came back abnormal and he had a heart cath done today. It came back with lots of blockages in his heart, so he’s in the hospital awaiting surgery. Mark and I will head out to see him tomorrow afternoon (with my extra appendage, aka “the nursing Josiah”). Mark’s mom (I think) is going to watch the rest of the kids for us…she needs LOTS of prayer!

I think it was Richard Swenson who said, “Live life expecting the unexpected!” (from his book Margin).

All else is well here. Except that we pooled together gift cards that the kids received and purchased a Fisher Price digital camera. We’re on our second one (the first one wouldn’t open to put the batteries in) and now it won’t turn on and we can’t get the pictures off of it (not that they were art quality pics but Zoe took some cute ones of Josiah). I’m baffled and about to try a different brand. We’ll see if Master Engineer and All Around Genius of the House can get it working (the above described would be my sweet and more patient better half).