My Dad...

Father's Day - Madeline took this picture of us with my Dad
Dad and Hannah


Dad and Madeline

My dad is Larry Robert Culis. He is 56 years old. He was married for 28 years to my mom and they loved each other dearly from the time he was 18 and she was 16. My mom died at the age of 47 after a 4 year battle with breast cancer. She's been in her eternal home now for 7 years. My dad lives alone in Jay Oklahoma, which is about 1 1/2 hours from Chris and I. He lives there with 4 dogs and he enjoys his 40 acres of land.

Today my dad is in the cardiac ICU at St Francis Hospital in Tulsa and my heart is broken for him. On Friday morning at 2 am he drove himself to the hospital in Grove Oklahoma and they admitted him. He was diagnosed with an aortic dissection (http://www.merck.com/mmhe/sec03/ch035/ch035c.html) and he was flown by helicopter to St Francis. They gave him a 50% chance of survival. They took him immediately into a 5 hour surgery where they removed the dissection and repaired his valve. The surgeon was very pleased with the surgery. My dad is a STRONG man. When he was able to talk after surgery, he told me that he is very fortunate and he has a lot to live for.

My sister had a hard time reaching me to tell me about my dad's condition. We had taken a trip to Lake Eufala with some friends and I didn't have a cell phone signal out there. She enlisted Chris' mom and sisters and through their detective work and the Lord's timing, they finally found our friend's phone number. I got the call when the surgery was complete and they were about to move him to ICU. I had been pretty overstimulated at that point, so we drove home chatting with the girls but with the radio shut off. I visited with dad for a while, then went home around 11 pm to wash the Lake off of me. On the way back to the hospital that night, I remembered a song called While I'm Waiting. One line of it says "While I'm waiting, I will worship" so I decided to listen to some worship music. I turned on the radio and the end of "Awesome God" was playing. Not my favorite song but I decided that I do agree that my God is awesome so I turned it up and let the words wash over me. Lo and behold, the next song on the radio was "While I'm waiting". I cried and sang and thanked God for even such a small reassurance that He is caring for me and my concerns.

This ICU deal is not agreeing with my dad! The longer he's here, the more restless he becomes. His oxygen level is low so they have to leave a mask strapped to his head and at times they've considered putting him back on the ventilator. He's gained 22 lbs of fluid which is starting to settle in his lungs. He's not allowed to get up until his fluid has decreased and O2 stays steady. So he's frustrated. He wakes up every 5-10 minutes and wants to get up, get a drink of water, take his tubes and lines out. He wants to be free. My sweet Dad has never ever been a patient in a hospital and he's getting a major dose of hospital life now. The nurses here are great. Most of them have been very kind with him and patient to explain the situation every time he wakes up.

Madeline and Hannah have been at Irene's house since we got back from the Lake but they are coming home tonight - I miss them SO much and I think my life will feel a bit more normal when I can spend part of each day with them. We are still scheduled to close on our houses July 27th - 22 days from now. While I have no idea how this is all going to work out I still feel a peace about buying this new house. We'll have more space and will be able to have my dad there with us for a while once he's discharged.

If you're praying for my dad, here's what we need:

* We need him to SLEEP, to actually be able to relax and sleep for a solid chunk of time.

* We need the fluid to process out of his body correctly so he can drink again. He tells me a few times an hour that he's dying of thirst.

* We need his lungs to be clear so that when he's up and moving around in a few days in the rehab unit, he won't have to battle pneumonia.

Thanks for reading this super long post. I'll make the future updates shorter, just needed to bring you up to speed.

I love you Daddy!!!
Dee