Two Surgeries; One Major, One Minor

In the middle of March we received a call from Mom who let us know that that Dad was going to have to have open heart surgery. (He had been sick since November and no one could figure out why.) All of the arteries were blocked from 90-99%; needless to say it was a necessary procedure. After a bit of debate, the girls and I took off for St. George. We met up with mom at the airport and were waiting for Desi and Elliott when I spotted this guy who looked exactly like my brother. I turned to mom to tell her to look at the guy as he passed and when I turned back the man was right in my face. I screamed, really screamed. It turns out that my brother also caught a flight in and was surprising us...I think I surprised him a little too!

It turns out that any reason for the Fullers to get together is a good reason. Cramped in this little hospital room we had a ton of fun. I don't think that the nurses really appreciated us, but between Reid and his phone, and the kids we had a blast.

Everyone was in pretty high spirits, especially after watching a video of a sleeping dog that Reid had on his I-Phone...here is Dad right after.
Of course the girls loved playing with Baby Elliott...check out this action sequence, Abbie didn't even flinch. The power that Elliott has over my two girls is amazing!



Of course Morgan had her time with Elliott also.

Then the girls took over Grandpa's bed.

Then came the pictures with the man of the hour. We got a little teary eyed at this point, but I spared you from those pictures. Here are the birthday buddies...I still think that they look alike, Grandpa finally has a little buffalita.

After they wheeled Dad away, the waiting began. You have not lived, until you have spent 8 hours in the ICU waiting room with a baby, a two year old, and an impatient 5 year old. We got pretty bored...Luckily, Uncle Reidy made an appearance during his lunch hour and entertained for awhile...Elliott loved him!

The girls also found a meditation room and decided it was okay to play with the bamboo, I was not very pleased.

Dad came through with flying colors after having 6 by-passes done and a valve repair. Here he is in the ICU right after surgery.
Here he is the next morning still a little drugged up. The heart pillow showed where his work was done and it was signed by his surgeon. They give them to patients to squeeze when the cough so they don't pop the wires that hold the sternum together. They had Dad up and walking that night. And one of the last things we got to do before heading home, was go for a walk with Grandpa. The girls loved this part, they were always asking Grandpa if he needed another walk!

I also had the pleasure of going through a minor surgery earlier this month. I had a mole removed from my back that didn't fair so well in pathology. So, they decided to go and take out more from around the mole just to make sure it all went well. I thought that it was going to be a little half inch procedure...it turned out to be a little bigger than that.

Right smack dab in the middle of my back, a two inch scar-bummer! Dave had to be my nurse when he was home, and I had to have Morgan do a little when he was away. The stitches are now out, but they don't want me to get sun on it for the next 6 months...how am I supposed to cover this at the pool?