Coffee? Tea? Serenity?

Dad visited with his surgeon and cardiologist last week. He was given the go ahead to return to work in a 'light duty' sort of way. He was also told that due to his breast bone still having some non-fusion areas, he should do no lifting for another two months. While being examined by the surgeon, he saw the pack of cigarettes in Dad's front shirt pocked. The surgeon's words were, "You're killing me! You're ruining my reputation! What will people say about ME when you have to return to surgery for the same procedure? Do you want to have to go through all of this AGAIN?"

As we exited the doctor's office, Dad joked with me by saying that it was my fault he'd been caught. It was his intention to leave the cigarettes in the vehicle, but I had already locked the doors which did not allow him to do so.

He returned to work on Monday, October 16. I spoke to him in the evening hours on Wednesday. He said that he was a little surprised at how he was not as tired as he had anticipated he would be with returning to work.

He has a follow up visit scheduled with his surgeon in December and with his cardiologist in February. During those visits, hopefully he will be given the go-ahead to see about the growth in his mouth which was the reason for the EKG which saved his life.

Having said that, I recall a conversation that I had with Uncle Bob. As he and I visited and shared our concerns for Dad after learning that the EKG detected some concerning abnormalities, he said to me (I'll summarize)...that maybe God was working things in ways to keep Dad with us for a longer time; maybe something needed attention that would have otherwise gone undetected. WOW! Was he right!!! With the blockages that were detected during the angiogram....well, we all know what COULD have happened.

I am often disgruntled by the news reports on studies conducted to help us be smarter in our lifestyles. One will report that we should not eat too much fish because of the mercury content. Later we learn that eating fish in moderation is actually OK. Don't eat eggs...well...just not too many eggs. Though disgruntling at times, I am grateful to God for helping the world of medicine become able to detect those life threatening ailments and providing ways to correct them.

May God grant to every doctor and nurse an almighty knowledge and loving compassion for each of their patients and their families so that they can continue to "take care of God's fools"; a phrase Dad used recently.