My dad went through open-heart surgery to replace his aortic valve and to repair his aortic aneurysm on Thursday night. The surgery went well, and he spent about 12 hours in the ICU before being transferred to an intermediate department prior to being transferred to the “regular” heart surgery department. He started eating today, and they started to gradually remove the tubes and wires he was connected to. He’s still on oxygen support, he’s still not able to sit independently or walk, and he’s still got a long road to recovery, but we’re getting there.

This week’s blog post was written in advance, and though I approved the comments on it, I haven’t had time to read them. My days are now devoted to hospital runs, hospital bureaucracy (always a delight), and running to maintain my sanity throughout this process. As my PTSD has had a significant flare up with all the extra hospital time, running, reading, journaling and meditation are what’s helped me stay on the path.

I don’t know how next week will unfold. I will resume posting and replying to comments when I can. In the meantime, there’s a pretty good archive of posts here which you are welcome to browse.