Sunday, September 15, 2013

Recovery and Countertops

Last time, I mentioned my dad was in the hospital. At the time we really did not have a very clear idea of everything that was going on. Basically, two things tried to kill him at the same time. Oddly enough, because it was two things, neither succeeded.

Basically, he had a bacterial blood infection. We're not 100% sure how, but he did. It got serious and an ambulance was called. We think he may have had a heart attack on the way to the hospital. The heart attack he had has a nick-name. It's called the Widowmaker. It earns that name. Here's the irony: If he had not had the blood infection, it's likely the heart attack was going to happen with no warning and just kill him outright. BUT, because the blood infection tried to kill him first, the heart attack was treatable. BUT, the heart attack had to be treated first before they even found the blood infection. So, because two different, intensely dangerous, conditions both tried to get through the 'kill you' door at the same time, they got stuck and failed comically.
Surviving,
Like a Boss. 
It was a really intense few days. He stayed 10 days in the hospital and then a couple weeks at home recovering with a PICC line and a drain line. The drain line hurt and we were all happy to see it go. Since it came out, his recovery has been intense. He still gets tired pretty easy and has to watch his exertion, but he's back to work and getting caught up.

I could EASILY fill a blog about how great Dove Academy (where he works) has been. They had flowers in his room before he even got there. The principal came and visited. They've been nothing but awesome through the whole thing. I'll leave it at that.

So, today, I was able to get him to help me redo the sink. Now we also redid the countertops. Well, Mo did. I just primed them. So, here are more before and afters.
Before
After, lights on
After, lights off
Here's a close up of the counter tops. This Giani Granite stuff looks surprisingly good. Mo did a great job.
See that new switch? I did that. It was hard, but it works. 
You might notice, the faucet looks different and the sink is now stainless steel. That is what Dad I did together today. It took most of the day and we are both tired now.
But, it looks really, really good. 

2 comments:

  1. Truthfully, I don't remember the photo above. Since I am dressed, I was just waiting to leave the hospital...hence the smile. Jeremy's description of the bizarre situation is pretty good. The blood infection was a result of a nearly 4 inch abscess on my liver that went septic. It was killing me slowly, and it may have triggered the heart attack (the doctor called it an acute myocardial infarction of the LAD.) It is called the Widowmaker because, in the Left Anterior Descending artery, it is rarely detected until too late, almost never gives any kind of warning, and when the heart attack occurs, one usually has less than 5 minutes to get to the hospital. Since I was already enroute to the hospital, the septic liver abscess (in a bizarre sense) literally saved my life. When combined with the support I received from my school and the parents of my students (who I only scarcely met) and ofcourse, Mo, Jeremy, and my Lola...I think I am in the running for Most Amazingly Blessed Man in the World this year. (There ought to be a trophy!)

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  2. Here is a secret everyone should know. I was suffering very little in all this ordeal. I was mostly oblivious and thought everyone was taking this WAY too seriously.
    But Lola was told, before they took me in the put stents in my heart, to go in to say goodbye to me. Can ANYONE appreciate the grief and suffering Lola was going through in those early hours? Only she and the doctors and nurses were aware of how serious things were.

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