It Goes On

My phone was going off all morning, but knowing that I was delinquent on a bill (possibly two) I was ignoring my phone. Plus, since I was at work, my phone had to stay in my purse on my desk. I got up to go to lunch and saw that I had four missed calls, three from the collections companies, and one from my mom. Then I saw that I had a text from my sister that said, "did you talk to mom yet?" Immediately my heart dropped into my stomach, my hands got clammy and shaky, and an eery feeling that something was terribly wrong took over my entire body.

I called my mom and she said, "now I don't want you to freak out," which of course, caused me to immediately freak out. Thanks mom. Love you, but hey, if you DON'T want me to do something, then don't tell me NOT to do that!! Have we learned nothing from my teenage years?? Anyways, she went on to say that my dad had some chest pain on Saturday and decided to stop by his doctors office to get it checked out on Monday. They did some bloodwork and scheduled another appointment for a follow up next week. But then on Tuesday he had more chest pain, and luckily, his doctor called him and said that they found some chemicals in his bloodwork that pointed to him having possibly had a small heart attack.

He went into the hospital today and had a heart catheterization, after which they would know if he should be on medicine, have a stent put in, or need bypass surgery. All day long I worried, and prayed, worried and prayed. I couldn't do anything to help him,I was just stuck at work! After hours of waiting, I learned that he had 95-99% blockage in his Left Anterior Descending (LAD) artery. The heart attacks he'd had weren't huge enough to cause any muscle damage to his heart, which was good. The doctors did angioplasty on him, which consisted of putting a balloon in his artery and then putting a stent over that to keep the plaque from sticking to his artery. He's got what's technically called Single Vessel Coronary Artery Disease, but with some Cardiac Rehab, a healthy diet, and some medicine to help maintain things, he will be just fine.

But I'll tell you what, that was the scariest call of my life. I was so terrified. I mean, that's my DAD! He's not supposed to get sick! He's supposed to be strong, my tower when I need strength, my fortress I need shelter. Instead, he's laying in a bed in a hospital room that he has to share with someone else. There are tubes coming out of his arm, he can't sit up to eat, he's so drugged up that he can barely hold onto his cup to drink water. I mean, this is not how my dad is supposed to be.

I know he'll be okay, but I'm still scared for him. So I keep remembering my verse from yesterday..."But now, Lord, what do I look for? My hope is in you." Psalm 39:7 My hope is in the Lord, and I know that He will heal my dad. And until he's 100% better, I'll just keep sending up prayers...