My Dad

My parents took a much-deserved cruise vacation in early January. I think it was somewhat of a celebratory trip in honor of their 40th wedding anniversary last summer. They set out on a road trip to Tampa, FL to catch the boat and then drove back when they returned. It was a long drive to/from Tampa but they broke it into a couple of days, stopping at a few fun places along the way. Here's a picture of them on the Formal Night of the cruise. I just LOVE this one of them!

Married 40+ years and counting!

Shortly after they returned from their cruise, my Dad battled a cold and couldn't seem to get better. Then he began experiencing extremely painful stabbing pains in his back and chest, in addition to terrible shortness of breath among other symptoms. He went to the doctor and was diagnosed with pneumonia in both lungs. He was trying to recover from that, but the stabbing pains were almost too much to bear.

Then one night, Dad developed a terrible pain in his left calf muscle. That lower leg began swelling up until it was twice the size of the other leg. My parents called my sister who is a nurse, and my sister suspected that he might have what's called Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT). It's a condition where a blood clot develops in your extremeties due to limited motion, such as a long car ride or airplane trip.

The next morning, my Dad visited the doctor and was sent to the ER. Sure enough, he was diagnosed with DVT. But the shocking thing was that the DVT had caused numerous blood clots to form in both of his lungs. That condition is extremely life-threatening -- over one third of patients with blood clots in their lungs die before they ever reach the hospital.

On top of the DVT and blood clots, Dad's pneumonia was even worse. Needless to say, he was immediately admitted to the hospital. He was in bad shape but steadily improved thanks to the great care he received. After 6 days in the hospital, he was released and now faces a long road to full recovery at home. Thank goodness he has such a great nurse wife!

While in the hospital, Dad was spoiled rotten by the sweet meal-cart ladies. They went to great trouble fixing his morning grapefruit just the way he likes it!

Leaving the hospital in his trademark Longhorn attire.

Finally, back at home in his favorite recliner!

We came SO close to losing him, and we're so thankful to God for His healing and to our family, friends, and neighbors for all the prayers and support!!