QUITE A STRESSFUL TIME

My goodness, the last few weeks have  been crazy... So much has happened in May and it is now June and I am still trying to catch up on all the events that have happened in our little part of the world over the last few weeks. 

We have survived a very stressful couple of weeks.  Steve got the call about three weeks ago, to let him know that he would have to take his Mum to Brissie for open heart surgery.  We had been waiting for this call for six months, and she was a Category 1 for surgery which means it was urgent....

Meanwhile the day after we get the call to take his Mum to Brissie for her open heart surgery, Steve's take has a heart attack and is raced to hospital where he is hospitalized and then air lifted to Brissie a couple of days later.....

Steve's brother flew up from Canberra to meet his Dad in Brissie as Steve was booked to accompany his Mum down a few days later...

The morning Steve and his Mum were to catch the train to Brissie for her heart surgery, Steve got a phone call from the hospital at 3am in the morning to let him know that his Dad had taken another heart attack and they were preparing him for open heart surgery...  He wasn't to let his Mum know until she arrived in Brissie because they didn't want her to stress and perhaps take a turn on her way to Brissie...

I think they were a bit of a novelty in the hospital.... both had open heart surgery within a 24 hour period... not often something like that happens...  They both went through the surgery well, but unfortunately Steve's dad had a stroke a couple of days later.... this set him back for a few days,  and he was sent off to have an MRI to see how much damage the stroke had caused.  Fortunately it was pretty mild and his sight started returning within a few days....

On the whole though it was a pretty traumatic time for Steve and his brothers... He took a few weeks off work to be with them....

As he was the carer, he was put up in this little unit in Brisbane for the first week his parents were in hospital...

The first unit Steve stayed in...

 The unit was pretty small.... you could barely swing a cat around in it,  but the most important thing is that it was clean, neat and tidy and had a small desk in there where he could work when he wasn't at the hospital...

They arrived in Brissie and were picked up by Steve's brother who took them straight to the hospital as Steve's mum was keen to see her husband, and also she had to be admitted by lunch time...

Getting admitted.

 They got to have a small visit with Steve's dad, although he was still pretty sedated from his surgery earlier that morning..

 The next morning Steve's mum was prepped for theatre....

All ready to go for her surgery...

 Meanwhile whilst their mum was having her surgery, the boys spent time with their dad who was still in the ICU in the Hospital...

Spending time with their dad. 

 By the time Steve's mum had her surgery and was put into the ICU, their dad had been moved out and sent back to a ward....

Steve's Mum in the ICU

 Steve's mum  ended up spending five days in the ICYU unit in the hospital....
Mostly this was because their was a shortage of beds in the main ward. 

Visiting both parents in Hospital..

 Next started the days of trying to divide your time amongst two very sick parents and then heading home at night to catch up on all the emails and school work from back home...
Steve's mum recovered a lot more quickly than his dad and he was discharged a few days before Steve's dad.  She was very nervous about leaving the safety of the hos[ital nd she felt very stressed for some time afterwards. 

Steve's Mum was discharged on the Thursday, exactly a week after she was admitted into hospital.
This posed a slight problem for them as the accommodation was available for the carer for Steve's Mum and she had now been discharged from hospital, so the paperwork had to all be completed again to make Steve the carer of his dad which gave him some extended time to start at the unit on a cheaper price. 

The new unit they were give was quite nice and airy with two beds in it... Unfortunately it didn't have a desk in their for Steve to complete his work...  This room did have a little balcony though, and Steve ended up using one of his bedside lamp, and the little balcony table which he terned into his work space. 

His work desk out on the balcony

 Steve's Dad remained in hospital for another three days,  his heart beat needed to be stabilized, it ws still beating all over the place....
It was with much excitement that the following Sunday they were all discharged and were able to make their wya home...

Waiting to be picked up from the hospital.

Steve's sister in law from Bundy ended up driving down to pick them up and driving them back to Bundaberg.  This was a little stressful for Steve;s Mum as she wasn't sure she was up to it...but with serveral stops along the way,  the made the tripe home in pretty uneventful time. 
Truely I hope we don't have to go through a week like that again for a hell of a long time.  Stressful wasn't the word. 

In saying all of this though,  I am so thankful for so many tings that happened around this timne...
Thankful that firstly
1.  that they both had their surgery together.
2.   the wonderful caring attitude of the doctors and nursers at the Prince Charles Hospital in Brissie. 
3.  The opportunity of all the boys getting together to support their parents.
4.  Accomodation available to Steve whilst staying in Brissie to care for his parents...
5.  Great boss who understands the importance of family and was happy to release Steve to care for his family.
6.  Sarah being here so that Steve was able to take the car to Bundy.
7.  Wonderful health services we have in this country.... and that those that can't afford it  are still able to access it. 

8.  That Steve's Dad has regained his sight again after his stroke and that it wasn't as severe as it could have been.
9.  His Mum has been making a miraculous recovery,
10.  Answered prayers....