My father had a heart attack

[Dee]

I love my relatives. They have a special way of making me feel totally sane.

Yesterday afternoon my father was having chest pains and after aspirin didn’t relieve them (get this) he walked himself a mile to the hospital. Oy.

I just got off the phone with my mother who told me this and went on and on about how stubborn he is and gave me several recent examples. She also told me he was prescribed medicine for high blood pressure last year, took it for two weeks then dumped the rest.

I agreed that he’s always been stubborn and no one can tell him anything. I didn’t know what else to say. I asked her if someone was staying with her and she said my older sister stayed last night but had to go back home today. My older sister also went to the hospital and gave the doctor there hell for not sending him immediately to another city where he will go for an angioplasty when that is set up. She also gave my father hell for walking to the hospital instead of taking a taxi. My sister has my father’s ego, and always has.

I asked my mother to keep me up to date on what develops but other than that there is nothing I can do. Given our lifelong discord I certainly won’t be going to see him. That would give him a second heart attack for sure! I just hope this will scare enough sense into him that he’ll listen to medical advice from now on.

I don’t know why I’m posting this here, other than needing to get it off my mind. Thanks for reading.


Calm blue sea ... calm blue sea ... calm blue sea ...

[Oak Kitten]

Sorry to hear about your Dad, Dee. You may want to let your family members know about this article in the New York Times:

http://www.nytimes.com/pages/health/index.html?adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1176163569-4EwpGxtA7bB6KCOjsU+KRw

Oak

[Rickster]

Oh Dee, I'm so sorry about your Dad! Please keep us updated as to his condition. Geez...it's always something! Prayers going out to You and Dad. What the hell is going on with this board lately? A lot of people have sick relatives recently. My wife and I just returned home from the Bronx going to her 1st cousins funeral on Saturday. He was 44 yrs old...lost his battle with Cancer and left a wife and 1 1/2 yr. old daughter. Such a sad event. There must be a God somewhere?

[SongDragon]

I'm sorry about your father, Dee.

Stubborn is right...

Reminds me of my family trying to learn to listen to medical advice.

I'll keep you and your father in my thoughts.

~SongDragon

[Randy & Betty in Pa]

Dee,

Speaking from experience I can tell you that cardiac problems can be life altering experiences... My first of two major heart attacks I had while managing a store in Downey California. It was far from what I would have expected based on the descriptions I had been given of heart attacts by others... I had been outside in the heat then walked in and coughed... It felt like the kind of cough you get when you have strep throat... No heavy arm or chest pains at all... Then I broke into a sweat and hit the floor... Next thing I know the paramedics are putting me on a gurney in the middle of the store... My first words to the paramedics were something to the effect of can't we do this somewhere else? Were blocking the Twinkies and they are on sale... Four days in intensive care, three more days in the cardiac unit and two angioplaistys (without stints) later I whined so loud that they released me. This was back in 1994. Since then I have changed little about my life style. I still eat the wrong foods...I still smoke two packs of cigarettes a day but you know Dee... I'm still here... I don't know how your Dad will react to this experience but then I know for certain that right now he dosen't know how he will react either... It is a scarey proposition. Dee I have found that since my first cardiac I like myself a lot more then I did before. I haven't found God as many do when faced with such experiences but I did find me... From my first heart attack I have some permanent heart damage and have been advised that I cannot return to any semblence of work as I knew it... Yet Dee, from this event I have changed my life to one which is far less stressful... I now accept my limitations and I accept responsibility for my actions rather then being annoyed at others for things I do...An example of this is smoking, I smoke now with full knowledge of the risks and wont blame the cigarette manufacturers... I can tell you this, this would be a good time for you to put aside any past battles and offer an olive branch for past actions... True, he may slap it away but you know if you offer it and he refuses then so be it... thats better then feeling guilty should the worst happen and you didn't... I suggest this for your sake more so then his. The man is obviously a damn fool but a very strong one if he was able to walk a mile to the hospital and thats a good thing. For a man in his current state of confusion inspiration can come from the most unlikely of places... You can be a point of inspiration to him perhaps, and if not to him to the rest of your family. Though a frightening time for all involved Dee, the practice of medicine has come a long way related to the heart muscle and depending on the damage he's done the fact that he made it to the hospital is a very good sign. It's highly possible that in a few months time he will be over the fear of the event and deciding what medical advice to ignore.... Dee... I guess the only thing I'm trying to say my friend is that life goes on... nothing you can do will change this other then to add strength to those around you including him. Our prayers go to him and your family and especially you...

Best to you...

R. from Pa

[saxman]

Im sorry to hear about your father. Hope everything will be ok . my dad is in a home as a veg. the one thing im happy about is that we made our peice long time ago so if he goes i can rest knowing that everything was worked out between us . Hope everything is ok with you . see ya

[BeckyVA]

Dee,
sorry to hear about your Dad. Regardless of the family discord where you and he are concerned, he's still your Dad, and of all people, I can appreciate your concern for your family. ALthough you may not be going to him, I know how upsetting the news can be when a family member is ill. You my friend, are now in my thoughts and prayers. Please keep me posted, you and your feelings matter to me. I hope that morning will bring better news. Take care and let me know if there is anything I can do for you.....I mean it!

Becky

[DaveM]

We're with you, Dee. Please keep us posted and we'll keep the Rudie Power flowing your way.

Just don't do anything desperate like becoming a Republican or something.

[ponytail]

So sorry to hear about your father, Dee. I just said a prayer for you, him and the rest of your family.

I know what you're going through. We're all here for you.

[Elliott]

Hey Dee... I know why you posted this, and so does everyone else on the board. I pray for the best for you and your family. My brother-in-law, a dear friend, had a major heart attack last Monday night. He felt bad soon after dinner (cabbage rolls, as my neice is a health freak) and he and my sister took a walk around the neighborhood. My sister gave his some medicine for indegestion, and then he worked out on exercise equiptment at home. Finally, my sister made him take several asperins and a warm bath. Only early the following morning my sister drove him to the local hospital and then he was transferred to the Houston Medical Center to get the best care available. Bypass surgery and stints are not effective where his damage is, so now he is home on heart meds and a very restrictive diet. This forty-nine year healthy man has never smoked and only has a little red wine from time to time. He is not overweight and strong as an ox. Our entire family is together emotionally so that has been a great help, but still a very stressful time for all of us. My father was an old man of fifty-nine when he died of a heart attack; I was twenty-one. Now three of my brother-in-laws are older than he was when he passed away. I'm sure you are feeling all sorts of emotions right now and wondering what to do. If you have it anywhere in your heart now might be a time for a short note from you wishing him the best. And I send my best wishes to you. Love, Elliott

[Darlene]

Hi Daniel, I am sorry about your father. It is a difficult time when you are estranged from a family members and they are really sick. Of course in this day and time they can do wonders when a person does have a heart attack.
You do what you think is best for you, because you are the one who is going to live with this decision maybe for the rest of life. What is the last memory of you father that you want to remember. Then you decide what you must do or not do.
Prayers for you and your father!
Darlene

[Dee]

Thanks for the prayers and good wishes and for letting me chatter things out here. Tomorrow morning I have the horrifying prospect of a meeting a new dentist and this is a lousy time to be thrown into the emotional debris of the past again.

If you knew my family's history and mine, you would understand the futility of trying to be involved with them in anything like a normal way. I know there are at least a couple of you here who can relate to that sentence without me having to explain. They operate on their own unique set of principles, and none of them make any sense. I see them as people to keep away from and not a “family” to me at all. I stay in touch with my mom, but that’s it. If that sounds insane to some of you who have good family relations, that’s because it is.

My father is 71 now. He’s still that frightened child needing total control (which my mother actually mentioned last night – surprise, surprise). Unfortunately he won’t accept that he’s not the god he sees himself for being. He’s right and everyone else is wrong, including doctors. Everything my mom told me about (last night) only confirms this.

I care about him as a human being, but there is no actual love between us and never was. Any attempts I’ve made to get past that over the years have been met with outward indifference, his usual defence mechanism. Rational discussion – well any discussion at all really – is out of the question.

I asked my mother why he wasn’t being sent to the Heart Institute here in Ottawa. Well, they’ve heard bad things about it. So he’s going to some second rate hospital when he could come to the leading clinic for heart health in all of Canada all because they’d rather listen to rumours than check out reality. My boyfriend Jimmy’s brother had bypass surgery there last year and is doing well now. Like I say, they have their own unique ways of thinking.

He may have to get a stint. He may need bypass surgery. He may get himself so worked up that a second heart attack kills him. I’ll let you know when I know more myself.

[RedjackRyan]

My prayers and sympathies are with you Daniel.

[Dee]

Thanks Ben. Appreciate that.

[david uk]

sorry to hear this Daniel.... hopefully we'll get to chat later

until then (((hugs)))

[Irish Beth]

Sorry to hear about your dad, even though you two are, to say the least, "estranged", I know you are still worried and concerned on some level. My thourhts and prayers to you all.

IB

[Dee]

Thanks, Beth.

Yes I do care – he’s a human being – just not willing to put myself through the insanity wringer anymore. The price is too high and long lasting.

Selfish I know, but how many foreheads do I have left to bang against the walls?

;)

[ponytail]

If you knew my family's history and mine, you would understand the futility of trying to be involved with them in anything like a normal way. I know there are at least a couple of you here who can relate to that sentence without me having to explain. They operate on their own unique set of principles, and none of them make any sense. I see them as people to keep away from and not a “family” to me at all. I stay in touch with my mom, but that’s it. If that sounds insane to some of you who have good family relations, that’s because it is.

My father is 71 now. He’s still that frightened child needing total control (which my mother actually mentioned last night – surprise, surprise). Unfortunately he won’t accept that he’s not the god he sees himself for being. He’s right and everyone else is wrong, including doctors. Everything my mom told me about (last night) only confirms this.

I care about him as a human being, but there is no actual love between us and never was. Any attempts I’ve made to get past that over the years have been met with outward indifference, his usual defense mechanism. Rational discussion – well any discussion at all really – is out of the question.

I asked my mother why he wasn’t being sent to the Heart Institute here in Ottawa. Well, they’ve heard bad things about it. So he’s going to some second rate hospital when he could come to the leading clinic for heart health in all of Canada all because they’d rather listen to rumours than check out reality. .

Boy, it sounds just like my mom's whole side of the family (all of whom are dead now, as is my Dad).

When I read this post I actually had to stop and cry for awhile, it brought back so much. It's so incredibly hard what a toxic family can put you through. People who haven't experienced it can sympathize, but they can't really understand. And no matter how you handle it, you're stuck with the hurt it causes.

My heart really goes out to you, as do my prayers...and big hugs. I'm so sorry you have to go through this. I hope you make taking care of yourself the priority.

[corolla girl]

So sorry to hear about your father Dee. My thoughts and prayers and Rudie vibes coming your way for you and your family. Take care of yourself too at this emotional time....corolla girl.........

[aabram]

Daniel, seeing as my father died in my mother's arms from just such a major affliction, I can sympathise only too well with you. Only in 1982 this Message Board didn't exist and neither did my knowledge of how to use a computer. You have us to comfort you. I only had Mr Abram to whom I had only been married for 6 months. The following 6 months I just went about with a glazed and stunned look on my face. All that was 25 years ago this year, so yes, I know how you feel.

My prayers and sympathies are with you, Daniel.

Annabel

[Roady]

Sorry to hear about your father, Dee. Close or estranged it's still stressful. Sending healing thoughts for your Dad. And first and foremost please take care of you!

[sky]

Sorry to hear about your dad. What also scared me when I read about your father not taking his blood pressure medicine for the last year, is his risk of a stroke goes way up as well with untreated high blood pressure. Strokes are very VERY scary as well!

I Hope he will shape up and listen to the doctors for his own sake. Sometimes it is hard to admit that we are ALL only human and subject to the human condition----and eventually we all will have physical health problems sooner or later. Hopefully later! Thats the thing about where I work---I feel like I am facing humans mortality in the face everyday at work and often it isn't pretty----but it is always a reminder! Somtimes there is beauty in peoples stength and their ability to cope with whatever they have to go through. They can be amazing!!
Sky

[Dee]

Sorry to hear about your father, Dee. Close or estranged it's still stressful. Sending healing thoughts for your Dad. And first and foremost please take care of you!

Thanks Roady,

I'm making today a rest day mostly. Jimmy will be providing moral support for me at the new dentist tomorrow morning, tho he may also need to block me from running out of there screaming.

[Cardiffgal]

Daniel,

I am so sorry that you father has robbed himself of the opportunity to know and appreciate his son.

You can lead a horse to water but you cannot drown them in their own supidity.

I will send you good wishes.

[Lin]

Thinking of you Dee. I will keep your Dad and you in my prayers

........and I would be running out of the dentist right behind you.

Lin xo

[marjan]

I wasn't really taking attention to the MB the last few days, but now I'm back again and feeling with you Daniel. Hope everything will work out fine for your dad.

[BeckyVA]

Hey Daniel,
just read your post and your pm to me. I get it; really...I do. You don't have to justify your feelings or actions to anyone, feelings are neither right or wrong, they just are. Now, your feelings about the dentist...I don't blame you a bit about not liking going to the dentist, nor about wanting to run out of there quicker than exlax shooting out your hindparts!!! (Not a pretty visual) :eek: but at least you have Jimmy for support. I hope your visit to the dentist goes well and that your Dad's health can be repaired. I am glad that you were able to share your news with us; as I learned from all of you, we can be a family and support one another and that's what I plan to do. Hang in there and let us know how things go at the dentist; I'm sure you'll do fine.
Hugs to you this evening my friend and prayers to heal what can be healed.
Get a good nights rest.
Becky

[Dee]

Thinking of you Dee. I will keep your Dad and you in my prayers

........and I would be running out of the dentist right behind you.

Lin xo

Five hours from now the first appointment with the new dentist should be nearly over. I’m hoping and trying to think optimistically that he’ll be more compassionate than the previous one and will be checking his knowledge/experience with HIV clients beforehand, along with several other questions which I’ve printed out.

Maybe if I keep him talking long enough he won't have time to do anything painful today. ;)

Dee the Dentaphobe

[pulmike]

I hope the visit to the dentist was not as dreadful as they can be, Daniel.

Some tough times, eh? Can you schedule something especially upbeat to look forward to in the not-so-distant future? Like a road trip to somewhere new with no specific agenda except to check out a new area? That sort of thing always helps me. Gives you something to hang onto while you weather the hard times. Make it as large as you can, or as simple as a long weekend; whatever. Have something fun coming up. Make some plans. Head for spring.

pulmike

[Marcia Drummergal]

Seems like you've had a lot on your plate these days Dee. I'll be sending Rudie vibes your way.

Marcia

[Dar]

Dee, so sorry to hear about your Dad. I hope he pulls through. Perhaps this will be a wake up call to him to reach out and try to reconnect with you?

I just got back from the dentist tonight myself. OY I am a big dentaphobe too. I kept whining that I could feel her touch me so she really loaded up the novacaine. I now have a face that is almost completely stiff. I feel like a botox victim. Peggy can't stop laughing.

[Beth]

Dee, I have a really stubborn dad, too, who is a cardiac hero. He came through an incredible ordeal about 5 years ago, got home, got better, got braver, and promptly fell off a 15 foot ladder putting up a huge Christmas tree, breaking his leg in the process...good God!

Thinking of you and all of the process that this is for you...

[Azure]

I am sorry to hear about your father's heart attack.

[Dee]

Dental update:

Old dentist = Nazi

New dentist = a major improvement

We didn't discuss our love lives but it's obvious to me he's Gay.

Had one of the minor procedures done yesterday - a drilling and filling of a tooth near the front. After the freezing came out, no pain at all. The next time it won't be so easy since it's two teeth both at the very back. That'll be done in a week. Then there are others that need to be done.

[Darlene]

Yea Daniel, I am so glad you have found a really good dentist. And the first time no pain after the freezing leaves. I know it might hurt next time but at least this time, you had a well I won't say good experience, but not a bad one.
Peace, Darlene

[Dee]

Ah well, no pain no gain. I can take the afterpain it's the holy terrors of dentistry I have problems with.

Anyway, this one I can work with. He didn't appear to be mistaking my head for a side of beef to butcher.

:p

Still no news to report on my father's condition.

[ponytail]

Glad the dentist was not only okay but one of the gang. My dentist isn't gay, but I like him. Not enough that I don't put off seeing him, though...

Still praying for you and your family.

[Dee]

Glad the dentist was not only okay but one of the gang.

Whether that has any bearing to him being more compassionate PT, I cannot say, but whatever the reason I'm just relieved he is more clued into the fact that a sentient human being is in his chair.

And thank you for your prayers for me and ma familia.

[BeckyVA]

:D Dee, so very glad to hear that the new dentist is an improvement. Keeping you in my prayers and thoughts and hoping for the best all around.
Take care,
Becky

[hoops]

Dee,
thoughts and prayers to you and your family. i know there is stuff there that keeps you away still there is love enought for you to care and that is what is important. you are a kind caring man, i will be praying
peace
Noel

[Eva]

Dee, I was sure I had written a response on your thread, but I can't find it. Either I am overlooking it or there was some technical difficulty. (doing something wrong on a computer is also under 'technical difficulties')

Anyway, I want to send you Rudievibes. I hope your father will be allright soon. Whatever your connection with him is like at the moment. And I hope the dentalwork can be as painless as possible. I am glad this new dentist is better than your last one.

Eva

[Dee]

Thanks to everyone who has left messages regarding my (estranged) father.

I hadn't heard anything new from my mom (the only relation I keep in contact with now besides a cousin, Penny - long story). I usually call my mother once a week. I called her when I was at my boyfriend's this morning.

The latest update is that he went for the angioplasty and exploratory the other day and they found a blockage and are awaiting a surgeon and a bed either in Kingston or here in Ottawa at the Heart Institute.

He's to have bypass surgery tho my mom didn't know which type. ? She got this news second hand from my older sister who accompanied my father for the angioplasty. For reasons only known to him he wants it done in Kingston as he thinks it’s closer to home. Both cities are about equal distance from my hometown, and in fact Ottawa has a better highway leading to it and the top heart health care facility in all of Canada. ? Such is the stubborn irrational mind of my father and another reason we are better off estranged.

I swear – I must have been adopted.

[leslie]

I'm a little late to catching up on this, but you are in our prayers. I know about how many relations are actually better in absence, but it doesn't mean we don't care. So, we'll keep you in our prayers as well.

Leslie

[gisli]

Hope you are doing ok Dee, you are in my prayers.

[DaveM]

We'll adopt you, Dee, especially if it helps us to acquire Canadian citizenship.

Seriously, I truly believe that there are times when the best way to deal with families is to stop trying to figure them out. You certainly don't need to stress yourself into a coronary attempting to, when chances are that you never will. Your family seems much like a terribly uncomfortably arranged room which one may struggle to adapt to, but if you succeed....they'll just move all the furniture.

[Darlene]

You Daniel must follow your heart and don't put yourself in a position to be hurt! My father a very abusive man died ten years ago. My mother has not been happy with me all my life. I chose, unless it is necessary (like my grandmother funeral) to stay away from her. She is very sick now some kind of lung disease, she hasn't asked to see me, and after her heart attack she said she didn't want to see me" I did call her once and all she talked about was how much my sister was doing for her. That hurt so I am not going to put myself in that position again. She is very sick, she may die, I suppose I will be sad, but I am not going to put myself in the position to be hurt anymore. I'm fifty-two yrs old and I don't need that. I have spent years in therapy over her and my father (well some of my problems were biological). When I was really into the catholic church the priest even told me not to go see her.
So you take care of Daniel! I know he is a good man!
Peace, Darlene

[Dee]

I care about them as fellow human beings Dave, but keep away from them for my own sake, That's the main reason I didn't attend my grandmother's funeral last autumn. My "family" has its own unique dynamic, and it's just not a healthy one. Anyone else who says life can be otherwise is wrong of course and therefore a threat on some level. That would be me. I gave up hoping things could change years ago. The last straw was when they declined family counseling while my youngest sister was hospitalized in Kingston for yet another suicide attempt. I was with my parents when it was proposed, tho not actually in the meeting.

My mother told me after the fact, and I said Great when do we start? She replied, Well your father will never do that so I can't either. ?

I tell you this only to show you the futility of hoping for change there. They are still keeping secrets (such as the fact that my parents aren't supposed to know my only nephew is Gay). My brother now lives in the hell of a head injury after crashing his pickup truck while driving drunk). But there's no problem.

Well, you get the picture I'm sure.

[Oak Kitten]

Dee,

I empathize with your situation. There comes a time when you have to distance yourself to save your own sanity when all your efforts over all the years have proven futile.

I woman I worked with many years ago had a similar relationship with her father. We were talking about it at work one day, and she said to me, "You know, if he were to drop dead right now, I couldn't care less." When she got home that night, her father had died of a massive heart attack. The next time I saw her was at his funeral. She pulled me aside and said, "Can you believe this happened after what I said?" She was somewhat mortified, as it appeared like she had "wished" his death, which of course was not true - it was just an awful coincidence. But she did feel badly about what she had said.

I think you are making the best you can out of a lousy situation, and I know that whatever transpires, you will manage it well for yourself which is all you can do - and of course we will all be here to listen.

Oak

[Dee]

Dee,

I empathize with your situation. There comes a time when you have to distance yourself to save your own sanity when all your efforts over all the years have proven futile.

Yes indeed Oak, you've got it exactly right.

[Dee]

The latest news I have on my father's condition is that they have decided to do a triple bypass. The where and when is still up in the air. That is all. Dee out.

[Rickster]

Dee, Hang in there! We are here for you brother!

[aabram]

Well, we'll just keep sending those Rudie Vibes, Prayers and everything else we can think of. You never know Daniel, he might just come through this in your favour as well. I hope so.

Annabel

[Dee]

Thank you brother Rick!

[ponytail]

A triple bypass. OK, I just said a triple-strength prayer. And I'll keep them coming.

Take good care of yourself, Daniel.

[Eva]

Dee, my ex had a triple bypass. When they did it he was in the worst state. He is doing much better now. I am certain your father will be better after this too.

Eva

[BeckyVA]

Hey Dee,
just read your post; my Mom had 5 bypasses done about 6 or 7 years ago...she is now 76 years old and hanging in there. Like the others that have posted; I too hope all goes well and the recovery is complete. Many prayers for you, your family and for the surgeons that will operate. Keeping you in my thoughts and prayers. Check on you later! ;)

[Dee]

Called my mom last night and we talked for quite some time – longer than normally. I wanted to let her decompress and I also wanted her to feel some sort of support, if only by phone.

My father has been transferred to a hospital in Kingston with surgery scheduled for Thursday because that was the first available choice. She told me it's a teaching hospital so maybe they won't be completely clueless.

One of my sisters is taking care of their dog, since it was my father who always took her for walks (the dog not my sister) and my mother has mobility problems now and uses a cane or walker. One of my cousins will come today and get her grocery list and do some food shopping for her.

After we talked about my father, we began comparing weird stories about her time as a nursing assistant and my boyfriend’s job as a home health care worker, and we laughed . . . a lot! She sounded a bit more relaxed by the time we finished talking.

[Darlene]

That's really great of you Daniel! You gave your mom some down time and helped her relax and laugh. I bet it was good for you too!
((hugs)) Darlene

[Dee]

Just got off the phone with my mom. The surgery is now going to happen this morning some time after 10:00 instead of tomorrow.

My older sister is driving her and another sister and a neice to the hospital so they can be with him before the operation. My mom will let me know later today how it went.

Meanwhile, I'm just trying not to get too tense about a second visit to the dentist at 10:30 this morning. http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k267/deemark/Emoticons/worried.gif

:o

[Roady]

Wishing your Dad a successful by-pass and hope today passes quickly for you!

[Dee]

Thanks Roady!

I am hoping the very same things.

The boyfriend is meeting me at my dental clinic between the two clients he has today.

I told my mom I will be thinking about them, but may be a bit distracted by my oral invasion at the same time. LOL

[RedjackRyan]

best wishes for your dad's surgery, and your own Oral invasion.. that sounds like a low budget porn flick.. lol!

Let us know how things go, Dee!

[Dee]

The timing is rather spooky I think. Guess I'm supposed to be learning something . . . like things could be worse than dental work.

I better get going now before I start to freak.

:p

[Dee]

Well I'm back and survived the invasion. Now the freezing is coming out, and since the work was so extensive I am beginning to really feel it in area he worked on, ie: pain. The dull achy kind. Ouch.

The good new is this was the worst of the work to be done – between two molars, upper left at the back – and there is only one more less involved one to be done.

Anyway, I just popped a couple of Advil so I hope they will help.

Whine whine whine.

[ponytail]

Just checking in. I hope your father's doing well, Daniel.

If the Advil's not helping enough, a great thing for tooth pain is crushed or powdered cloves from the spice department at the supermarket. Wet a Q-tip and dip it into the cloves, then apply it to the tooth and the gum around it. It'll numb it out for a while.

Clove oil is even better. Some health food stores carry it as an aromatherapy oil. If you use that, though, just use a drop or two on the Q-tip -- it's very strong.

[Dee]

Thanks for the home remedy PT, but things seem to be on the mend today.

My mom called to say they couldn't do the surgery yesterday since another surgery more pressing came up. So he's back on the waiting list and it won't be considered as emergency surgery unless he takes a turn for the worse.

[Eva]

Interesting how having a heartattack and then requiring surgery is considered not to be an emergency, isn't it? :confused:

Eva

[hoops]

seems strange to me too eva,
good luck to your dad on his surgery dee
peace
Noel

[Dee]

It does seem odd, but I guess they use the triage (http://www.cmaj.ca/cgi/content/full/173/4/371) system, where the most urgent cases are given top priority. When Jimmy's brother had his heart surgery last year, he was bumped three times before they operated.

[Dee]

My father ended up having his bypass surgery on Thursday. According to my mom it went well. Now the long road of recovery begins.

I can only hope this scared him enough to follow the medical advice given from here on out.

[hoops]

Dee and i pray for the best
peace
hoops

[ponytail]

I'm glad to hear your father didn't have to wait long for the surgery, and is doing well. I'm continuing to pray for him.