There is one aspect of my life that I haven't been talking about on here lately. That is my grandfather's (Dziadziu) failing health. During the end of June into early July, he suffered three episodes of congestive heart failure, all of which he made it through. Since July 14th, he has been in the hospital, being monitored, and weighing the decision of heart surgery to repair and replace two valves in his heart which aren't working. The decision could have been made over a year ago when he had his first run in with heart failure, however, at that time he wanted nothing to do with it. This year, with the rapid decline of the valves in his heart and the possibility of him not being around to help his wife out, he finally made the decision to have the surgery. The original plan was to have a procedure called a catheterization performed in which they make a small incision, insert a new heart valve that expands in place and begins functioning immediately. Yet, life is never so simple. That would have been the easy way. As it turns out, one of his valves is too damaged to undergo that procedure and the option left to my grandfather was to either have two surgeries, one with the catheterization and one traditional, or one traditional open heart surgery to repair both valves at once. This time, I think he made the right decision in opting for the one surgery during which both valves will be fixed. Still, nothing is simple when you are dealing with a man in his late 80's going into open heart surgery. The benefit now is that they don't have to break the breastbone to gain access to the heart. Rather, they make a six inch incision and proceed with robotic arms or whatever they have that allows them to access the heart in such a way. Whatever they have to do, my biggest hope is that any and all surgeons who will be working on my grandfather got a good night's sleep last night and are fresh and ready for the procedure today. May their hands be quick, nimble, and steady; and most of all, let there be no complications that arise. So perhaps the bigger question is, how is he doing now before the surgery. Well, after bring my grandmother to see him yesterday along with my mom, I would have to say he is doing really well for the state that he is in.
When we got to Yale New Haven Hospital yesterday, the best place for him around, he was in good spirits, laughing, joking, and looking better than he has in a while. (Part of that makes me wonder if all this time in the hospital not helping his wife has relieved some of the stress on his body) While there, a physical therapist came in to see if he wanted to go for a walk, and saying yes, he got right up, took his walker, and way he went with no problems, no shortness of breath, and everything but his heart working perfectly normal for his age. Yet, despite his jovial demeanor, I could tell he was a little nervous. His face didn't let on, his body didn't either, it was the constant wringing of his hands in his lap that gave it away. I don't even think he was worried about himself, but more about his wife and what would happen to her should he not make it through the surgery. When I wheeled my grandmother into his room and pushed her as close as I could to him, I almost started crying. He was dozing when we walked in and upon waking and seeing us in his room, most of all his wife, he was overjoyed. You could see the love that he had for her in his eyes and the gentle way he re-assured her that he was doing fine. Seeing the two of them sitting knee to knee, my heart went out to both of them. The only thought that went through my mind was that it might be the last time that the two of them got to see each other. After over 50 years of marriage, there was no crying on their part, just basking in each other's presence. It almost felt like I was intruding on something special. The love that they have for each other is incredibly tangible and impossible to miss. Talk never got the point of what would happen if he didn't make it, it was all about when he came out of surgery and when he recovered, nothing negative. Still, that original thought that it was the last time my grandparents might see each other got to me. I pushed it away for the whole visit until the end when we were leaving. It came flooding back then as I wheeled my grandmother out of his room. It was at that point, when I looked back to wave one last time at my grandfather that I saw a trace of fear in his face, a longing to be with his wife and never let her go, and a tinge of sadness that we were leaving. Me, I waved, told him I loved him, and then turned to take my grandmother home.
I make it sound like it was a sad visit, but it wasn't. It was merely tinged with a touch of sadness for me and perhaps for my mother and grandmother, I don't know. I am glad that I at least got to tell both of them that they will have another great grandchild come February, and also glad that I got to see the excitement on their faces when I talked about that and also what my son has been up to of late. All in all, it was a good visit. Perhaps my favorite part was the joke that my grandfather told that I had never heard before. (A surprise in and of itself as I have heard my grandfather's jokes hundreds of times such as "I heard UPS and FedEx are going to be merging. Oh yeah? Yeah, it will be called FedUp") So to keep the memory of this latest joke alive, I will share it with you now:
Johnny was sitting in class when his teacher asked him to stand up and recite the alphabet. Johnny said, "OK", and proceeded to start reciting the alphabet. "A B C D E F G H I J K L M N Ooooooo".
"What's wrong the teacher asked?" "The P just started running down my leg."
No comments:
Post a Comment