Its never nice hearing that someone close to you is sick, it’s even worse hearing that the person is a family member. Your emotions hit rock bottom when a family member is rushed to hospital with possible heart problems. That was the scenario I was confronted with when I received one of those dreaded phone calls from a family member.
Dad’s health had always been pretty good so it was a total shock to hear that a visit to the local specialist resulted in an ambulance ride straight to hospital. Some routine blood tests picked up some anomalies in his blood that warranted his admission to Lismore Base Hospital. This started a chain of events that 10 days later saw my father under the surgeon’s knife having a heart bypass and a new aortic valve inserted while in a Brisbane hospital.
Some quick scrambling ensured that we were by Dad’s side as he undertook this emergency surgery. From all accounts this type of surgery is common practice nowadays but all the reassurance in the world doesn’t prepare you for the fear you face seeing a loved one laid up after such a big operation. That said, the surgeon assured us that the operation went well and Dad would make a full recovery.
2 weeks later, Dad is recovering well at home. He has a long road ahead of him, but the shortness of breath is gone and apart from the pain of having your sternum cut down the middle he is in good health and spirits.
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