Dad Might Not Make It Through Angioplasty

Friday September 25, 1992

Frank leaves at 8 a.m. to take his folks to Daniel Freeman Hospital for Dad's angiogram. I go have my nails done at 11:30. I took my walk at 8:00 a.m. I feel good. I slept well again last night.

At 3 p.m. I go to Montrose to pick up a confirmation on our hotel in Barcelona. Frank is home when I return. He is upset. The doctor could not say Dad would make it through an angioplasty. So they all agreed to do nothing right now though Dad's artery is nearly blocked. He's not a candidate for bypass because of his age.

We go to a square dance at 8 p.m. I have so much energy. I'm really bouncing tonight. Haven't felt this good in ages.

Thank goodness for the internet most of us have in our homes now. Mom had to drive 36 miles to Montrose to pick up a piece of paper confirming their hotel reservation, while today we simply click on the icon that says "Print" and our reservation confirmation is at our fingertips within seconds.

Frank's Dad John was in his 80s when it was decided not to perform angioplasty due to his age. He did outlive Mom, but not by much. He died of a heart attack within a few weeks of Mom's death in 1993. Frank's Mom Florence went into the hospital for a fairly routine surgical procedure several years later and died while under anesthesia.

Angiogram

Wednesday September 23, 1992

Had another bad night of pain. After hours of not sleeping well I prayed to God to relieve my pain so I could sleep. I rolled to my stomach and found it didn't hurt so much that way and went right to sleep. I try to sleep in but don't really sleep from 7 to 9:30 when I finally get up. I feel pretty good once I'm dressed and made up.

About 1 p.m. we go to the bank to get our travelers checks. Frank calls his mom. Dad is scheduled for angiogram on Friday morning and possible angioplasty. We are worried about this just before we leave on our trip but agree it must be done now.

We go to learn round dancing with our friends. It's fun. I think we'll like it. I feel great today.

From Wikipedia, "Angiography or arteriography is a medical imaging technique used to visualize the inside, or lumen, of blood vessels and organs of the body, with particular interest in the arteries, veins and the heart chambers. This is traditionally done by injecting a radio-opaque contrast agent into the blood vessel and imaging using X-ray based techniques such as fluoroscopy."

From rounddancing.net, "Round Dancing is a form of social ballroom dancing in which the steps are choreographed precisely to the music, and those steps are announced by a "cuer," as we dance. The presence of the cuer makes a round dance look different than the usual ballroom dance — all the couples are dancing in unison and the choreography can be relatively complex and interesting (since the man doesn't have to think it up as he goes) — but otherwise round dancers are ballroom dancing. We hold our partners in the normal way. We take the same kinds of steps. The rhythms are the familiar rhythms — waltz, foxtrot, cha-cha, rumba, and others."

This sounds quite a bit different from square dancing. Kind of like "Dancing With The Stars." I think I would enjoy this more than square dancing since I don't care for country western music.