Update on My Dad

I finally have a few minutes to sit down and blog a bit. My dad is doing well. He is now out of the cardiac icu which is wonderful. He did extremely well during the surgery which his doc attributes to his healthy lifestyle and positive attitude.

This week has been really tough seeing my dad in pain..so many tubes coming out of him..getting him up out of bed to walk..but as of today he got his last tube out. He is only on oxygen now for the duration of his hospital stay. Hopefully he'll get out on Monday but we'll see.

The nurses in the icu were phenomenal. We were so impressed with them. My dad was very interested in each and every one and made it a point to get to know them all. They all thought he was soo cute. None of us wanted him to leave the icu because they took care of him so incredibly well. The nurses on his current floor are fine but nothing like the icu nurses. I need to pick up a card or flowers as a thank you to them.

My brother, sis-in-law, and I have been trying to help my mom all week but it's been tough. She's pretty stubborn and set in her ways so she's still trying to do everything herself. I think we've worn her down a little though because today she let my brother and sis-in-law run errands for her. Keith has been taking care of the pool and did a little yard work for her as well. Baby steps with her, I tell ya.. Paul and Hunter drove down last night to help which has been great.

My parents started remodeling my old room about 6 months ago and since it still isn't done, I called a friend of mine who owns a construction company to come finish it tomorrow. My mom wasn't too thrilled but I took her to Lowe's today to get the rest of the materials. My dad is relieved though. I just didn't want to have him worry about any of it when he comes home.

We're all pretty stressed so there has been the occasional bickering at one another which is bound to happen with all of us in the house together. Example: After everyone was home from the hospital, we went out to dinner last night which turned out to be a disaster. Long story short - I wanted to hide under the table and pretend I wasn't related to both my mom and Piper. I felt sooo sorry for our waiter.

Pip and I will be here another week. My mother in law watched her for a few nights which was heaven for her since she doesn't get to see Pip as often as she'd like. Luckily she wants her back more this week which works out well so I can help after my dad gets home. My brother and his wife need to leave for Tucson tomorrow at 8am. He's in a play which starts at 12pm so they need to hustle out of here. Paul and Hunter will drive back to Vegas on Monday.

That's about it for now. Need to go outside and paint chair rails and crown moulding so my friend can install tomorrow. I think it might rain in a few hours, great.

ps. we've been writing down all the funny things my dad has said in the hospital. Since some of them were drug-induced, they've been hysterical. I'll have to save that for my next post.

pps. thanks to the 19 or so people who voted for me on hotblogger.com. just had a chance to check it. As they always say, maybe next year.