What a vacation!

Boy, remind me never to say that I want school to be over so I can relax. I think I jinxed myself.

So, let me get you up to date.

School was over on May 24th for kids, and the last day for teachers was May 25th. We had in-service scheduled for May 30, May 31, June 1, and June 5. I also had a meeting on June 1 from 6-9 at night.

Chad's dad was going in on May 30th for a heart cath, and they were planning to put in stents, so we planned on going along since things like that make Chad's mom nervous. I went to my inservice in the morning and left after lunch. We get to St. Joe east. They perform the cath, and then come get us to say that he's got several--maybe close to 20--heart blockages from 88 to 100 percent, and he has to have heart bypass surgery! They transfer him by ambulance to St. Joe while Chad drives his Jeep and I drive his mom in her van since she's so upset.

They put him in the CTVU unit, put a balloon pump in him to keep the blood circulating, and plan the surgery for the following morning. They tell us the surgery will take around 4 hours, he'll be on the ventilator for 4-6 hours, and he'll be home in four days. I missed all the rest of my in-service and have to make it up in July.

They can't get him to come off the ventilator! So, there he is with pacemaker wires, two chest tubes, 8 IV lines, a heart monitor, an IV blood pressure monitor, a catheter, and the balloon pump . . . as well as the ventilator and the cuffs that squeeze his legs. That's a LOT of equipment! It takes them SIX DAYS to get him off the ventilator. He's still in the CTVU unit, but he's alert and off most of the equipment. They even let him walk a bit. The drugs make him a bit loopy, but he's at himself most of the time. He wouldn't eat his supper tonight . . . but he has to eat all pureed foods, which look really nasty! Pureed bread? Yuck!!

I postponed my "female" surgery that was scheduled for next week. We cancelled our vacation. We end up deciding to go ahead with vacation after he came off the ventilator and was doing better . . . only the new motel ends up being right in the middle of the biggest ghetto area I've ever seen! We cancelled and made a run for it. We go to eat and decide where to stay . . . and during supper, Chad breaks one of his teeth!

He's terrified of dentists, so he's beside himself. We finally just decide to come home. I drove 650 miles Tuesday!!

I got Chad into the dentist yesterday . . . his first visit in nearly 20 years. They did manage to clean and get x-rays, but the tooth is beyond repair. And, to make things more interesting, he will have to have three, maybe four teeth removed! His two bottom wisdom teeth, the tooth he broke, and maybe one other molar have to go. He's NOT looking forward to the consultation with the oral surgeon. One of my friends works at the office and says she can get him in for an earlier appointment, but he doesn't want it. LOL

So . . . as of this point in the summer, I've been FAR busier than I've been at work!