My daddy

On Wednesday, April 28, 2010, I was having a breakfast at my place for the cute ladies I visit teach. My companion was out of town and I knew I only had a few days left to get it done. I was feeding Lynden and my mom kept calling me. I answered and heard her say, "I just need to let you know, dad is fine." She sounded a little shaken up and I knew she just called me to hear herself say it out loud. My dad had a treadmill test and afterward his resting heartrate wasn't what it should have been. His doctor gave him something to slow it down and it still didn't go down. Thank heavens he has a proactive doctor that wanted him to be monitored and sent to the hospital to undergo some tests. I listened to my mom when she said do not come home until we find out what is going on and I wasted away the day. I talked to my dad who sounded normal and fine and wanted everyone to stop worrying. The next morning my mom called again, this time a little shaken up, but also extremely calm. One of the nurses called and pretty much said, "your husband needs open heart surgery, please come to the hospital." No explanation, no more information, just come. I was picking Joe up from preschool and called Steve to come home. I called my brother, Steve, who was in Valencia for work and he was so sweet and went home to be with my mom. He helped her focus on getting ready and drove her to the hospital where my other brothers Jack and Dan met her. My dad needed some type of bypass surgery, we thought it would be a triple bypass. Mom was told it was an absolute miracle that he had not had a heart attack, stroke, or something worse that I can't even think about. The surgery was scheduled for Saturday. I wanted to be there for my dad and at the same time I felt that I needed to be there for my mom. There were so many scenarios that we went through in our heads with me flying to California with only Lynden or me driving both the kids or all of us going. Mom is funny, she thrives on having people around like I do and she really wanted Joe there. Here came in Mr. Incredible and Steve drove us early Friday morning to California and had to catch a flight back Saturday afternoon for work. It really was quite a selfless act. He had dealt with an emotionally unstable and crabby wife the past 24 hours and a long car ride listening to the same story over and over as I told it to different family members and friends and got to my parents ready to help. I was rushing hoping to see JK off to prom and let him borrow my camera. I had just enough time to stop at the hospital and see my dad for a few minutes while Steve sat in the car with 2 kids that were probably at their breaking point. I saw dad and had the most tender moments of my life in his hospital room that I will never ever forget. I get in the car and once again am crying and talking to Chelsea who has learned she has a free flight and books it and is flying out in 2 hours to come out and be with us. JK looked great and we sent him off. My dad had an awesome nurse that let Tim, Julie, Jack and Sam in an hour after visiting hours were done and let Chelsea and I in 3 hours after visiting hours were over because that's when she landed. Tim and Julie happened to be going to Santa Barbara for her birthday weekend, so 8 of my dad's 9 kids were in town for the surgery. Amazing! Dad went in for surgery at 6:30 and we didn't get a phone call until after 1! Those were some LONG hours! We went to Ben's tennis tournament and my mom probably looked at her phone over a thousand times making sure she had service and battery. My dad said he didn't want anyone there before or during just having anxiety about what was going on. Dad did fabulous! His heart is in such great shape and they didn't even have to put it on the resting machine during the operation, it just kept on pumping! It ended up having to be a quintuple bypass surgery with 100% blockage, 99% blockage, 70% blockage, 60% blockage and somewhere in the 40% blockage. We got to see dad while he was coming out of it. He is the strongest man I know. Right when I walked in and said hi, his eyes were still closed and he asked where cowboy (Joe) was...Of course I lost it and luckily Chelsea took over for me. We took Steve to the airport. He was so sweet to drive us here to allow me to have the car and use it to help out whoever needed rides and it let me have the flexibility to stay as long as I needed. After a few annoying days in the hospital, the nurses didn't do very well of staying on top of his diabetes and blood sugar, they figured out we could take care of his meals at home. He got home Wednesday and his blood sugar dropped 75 points! Mike, our oldest brother, flew in Wednesday and stayed through the weekend. Joe was relieved to finally have grandpa home. He had a hard time understanding why he couldn't take in his Elmo balloon and cards to the hospital. One time when we pulled up, he even asked, "Can I be 14 today?" He was super careful with grandpa and was pretty calm while we were there. Dad is doing wonderful and just played his first round of golf a couple of days ago. He shot an 82 for his first time back, better than most of the pros who just bombed during the US Open. He has played tennis and is on top of his game.
Throughout this whole ordeal I have learned that nothing is coincidental. It's not coincidence that his doctor decided to be proactive, nor is it coincidence that 8 of his 9 children could be in town. On Sunday, when Chelsea and I were leaving the hospital Elder Garns and Sister Garns got there. I have always had a strong testimony concerning the leaders of our Gospel, but it was definitely strengthened seeing them and feeling of their love for our family. I have learned even more that Jesus loves us and knows exactly what we are going through. He knows our limits and because we are here on Earth to grow, gives us trials that we can grow from when we think we might not be able to overcome them. I have learned that the closer I am to Him, the happier and more productive of a person I am. I don't think I have ever kept my stuff more organized/out of the way at my mom's house than I did this time :) The feeling of support, fasts, prayers, and love is a comfort beyond words. Jesus came to Earth not only to die for us, but to show us how to live. I am so grateful for my parents who taught me that my whole life whether I was wanting to listen or not. They are the most amazing examples and I love them dearly.