Update on Paw Paw

Hello friends and family! I suppose by now most of you know that my Paw Paw's in the hospital in need of aortic valve replacement surgery. He went in on New Year's Day with shortness of breath and was moved to the CVICU (cardiovascular intensive care unit) after a bad episode on Tuesday night. Mom and I were still there...we'd been waiting around to see his cardiologist (who makes his rounds sometime between 9pm and midnight!). After getting up to go the restroom, Paw Paw got really short of breath and his heart started acting up. The nurses can see his heart monitor at the nurses' station, so they saw what was going on and rushed down to his room. He really drew a crowd! At one point there were five nurses in the room with us. He stabilized on his own, but his doctor wanted to move him to ICU so he'd be more closely monitored all the time. I took this picture about 15 minutes after that episode...after they'd hooked him up to even more monitors! I don't think anyone's ever had that many wires attached to their chest! He scared us, but you can see that he recovered from that incident pretty quickly - he even smiled for a picture!

Since he's been in ICU, he's had none of those shortness of breath episodes and has gotten a lot more rest. He's got pretty much every vital sign monitored around the clock. You can see them on a screen in his room (also, a nurse watches it on a screen outside his room), and every time I've been in there, they've looked good. His doctor won't let him get out of bed at all, as he doesn't want his heart to do any extra work. Paw Paw's visiting hours have been occupied by lots of visitors. Even though we think ICU visitors are suppposed to be restricted to just family and clergy, the nurses haven't said a word when other friends have stopped by to see him. He's got really great nurses.

I can tell he's feeling better and more rested. He talked the whole time I was there today. He's acting much more like himself. His white count was elevated yesterday and went down today but was still slightly elevated. He shows no other signs of infection, though, and the doctor said stress and some of his meds could have caused his elevated WBC. They've got him on some good antibiotics, though, just in case he does have an infection. His cardiologist wants to do an angiogram before surgery, and we're hoping that will get done tomorrow so that he can have his surgery early next week. His surgeon will be Dr. Jerry Gooch, who we've heard is one of the best in the country...he even operated on Frank Sinatra!

Thank you all for your prayers and please keep them coming! Also remember Paw Paw's mom in your prayers. She's 90 and still lives by herself in Kentucky. She doesn't travel anymore but her mind is as sharp as it ever was, and I know she's worried about her "baby" and wanting to be here with him. Things have been crazy here, but I'll to post daily updates so y'all will know what's going on.

In other news...our sweet little Avery Laine turns TWO today! I can't believe it's been two years since she came into the world. With all of Paw Paw's excitement, I haven't had time to cook up a big ol' birthday post for her, but, don't worry, it's coming.

Happy Birthday, Avery!