A BUSY, HECTIC WEEK & MEDICAL UPDATE

We had our two grandchildren all week as their dad was in Minneapolis on a business trip. We love having the grands stay with us and they really are a joy and no trouble but the down side is all the time we have to spend in the driving them to and from school. We live 25 miles from their home and schools. Aric has to be at school at 7:40 a.m. and picked up by 2:40 p.m. Oksana has to be at school by 8:10 a.m. and picked up by 3:10 p.m. So we spend literally 1 1/2 to 2 hours twice a day on this task. 4 hours out of the day is a big hunk!!!!



Monday night was our monthly Bee Club meeting.



Then on Tuesday Mickey and Brody burned all the tree branches and damage from our ice storm last December. That will be a separate post!!!



Wednesday Mickey's bee keeper mentor came over to check-out Mickey's bees. Mickey was afraid maybe he had beetles & moths in his hive. Ronnie said his hive looks great.



Wednesday I had a dentist appointment for teeth cleaning that had been made 4 months earlier. As I said it was a very busy, hectic week.


This was also the week to clean their house on Thursday so we left home at 7 a.m. and didn't get back until 4 p.m.


Then Friday was Mickey's appointment in Oklahoma City at the VA hospital with a consultation with the heart surgeon. We left home at 7 dropped Aric off at school, dropped Oksana off at a friends house who lives near the school and headed to OKC. His appointment was at 10 a.m. and we arrived at 9:30 which was perfect. We left the hospital by 11:30, stopped mid-way on our drive back to Tulsa at a McD's for a bite of lunch and were back in Tulsa by 1:30 in time to get the kids.


Marc called and said he was going to make it in by 4 so just wait at the house and we'd all go out to dinner. Then he treated us to a delicious meal at Charleston's. Mickey had prime rib and I had baked chicken. It was good and fun for the 5 of us to sit down and relax and visit over a wonderful meal. Marc's company had arranged for them to attend a Twins baseball game one night so he brought all of us home a Twins souvenir. He got himself a ball cap, Oksana a T-shirt, Aric a small bat, and us a little Twins bear.

Now for the medical report. We had a really good consultation with first the PAC nurse who was very informative and actually took a piece of paper and drew out, for Mickey to see and better understand, the placement of the blockages in the arteries of his heart. Then we waited a little for the Dr. to come in. He was really great. He began by saying "Whether you have surgery is your decision. Not hers (pointing to me), not mine, but yours."

Mickey had been told he had two blocked arteries and a damaged valve. The Dr. began by saying, based on the reports and the 50% damage to the valve, he did not think the risk was great enough to replace the valve. GOOD NEWS!! Thank you Jesus. The valve replacement is a much more serious operation and procedure. One of the arteries has 75% blockage and the other 50% blockage. Mickey had always said, and felt, he had no chest pain but in discussing with the Dr. some pressure he gets in the diaphragm area is really chest pain!!! We talked about his age being 75 (76 in November) and the life expectancy. The Dr. said "If you were 90 years old that would be a factor. At 76 it is not that much of a factor to consider." Mickey asked if he had to make a decision right then and the Dr. said no. We thanked him and left.


When we got to the car I asked him what his thoughts were and what he was considering and he said, "I don't know......I need to give it some more thought". Mickey is not one to make quick decisions so I figured he'd take a week or so. I told him "I won't bug you about it. When you decide you let me know." Just before we got to the 1/2 way mark of the turnpike he said "This is what I am going to do. I am going to have the surgery but I'm going to call them and tell them I don't want to have it until after October 15th."


We will celebrate our 50th anniversary on October 4th and my dear, sweet, adoring husband then proceeded to tell me about a trip he had planned for us to celebrate our anniversary!!!! I had no idea....,,,,in fact I had just told friends I was glad we had "celebrated" our anniversary with 2 other occasions this year since, with this heart issue, we were not going to try and do anything special on our actual anniversary.


Okay.....what & where will be a surprise. Tune-in after we return in October :o)


It is a very big relief to have this decision making behind us. When Mickey was first diagnosed with heart disease in early spring his initial reaction was "I am not going to have surgery." He has really had these 5 months to talk to people, check into things further, and just plain think & pray about it. We are both so thankful that he was not faced with an emergency type situation and decision.

We know we are in God's hands and care. We also believe we have an "appointed time" to meet our God. God knows that moment, we do not.......but we know our God. We are at peace with Him and Mickey's decision.