Prayers please!!!

Would you like the good news or the bad news first?

Bad? Yeah, it's always better to end on a good note.

My dad had a heart attack yesterday. He had been having some strange chest pain for a couple of days, and decided late in the afternoon on Tuesday that he better get it checked out. He drove himself to the doctor's office (stubborn, crazy ol' dad!), who sent him to the ER, who admitted him and performed an angiogram the next morning. It confirmed that he did in fact have a heart attack (they didn't seem quite sure at first) and that there is significant blockage.

He is getting a 5 bypass surgery on Friday.

Now for the good news...

For one, he's alive! It could have been much, much more serious. The heart attack caused very little damage to his heart. In fact, his heart actually looks amazingly strong, and the valves look great. The blockage contains a lot of calcium, which really makes the arteries harden. But the surgeon is VERY optimistic about the surgery. He says that Dad is the best candidate for this kind of surgery because he is in excellent health otherwise, and will completely recover.

Two hours ago, I'm not sure I could have accurately told you what a bypass surgery is, but thanks to my trusty WebMD.com, I now can just in case you're wondering.

They'll be taking blood vessels from other parts of his body (at this point it looks like 4 from his leg, and one from his chest) and put them around the areas of blockage in order to form a new pathway to the heart.

One of my first questions was, "Do they have to open up his chest?"

Yes.

But even though this is a very major surgery, it is EXTREMELY common. That gives me comfort.

And he's expected to completely recover - biggest comfort of all.

If you're sitting in your hospital bed, dad, reading this post, please know that I love you.

And everyone else who is reading this, please start praying.

As in, right now.

Because he is the best darn dad anyone could ever ask for, and I need him to be in one piece taking his usual snooze in his recliner when I get done living in Jerusalem.