Update on Ray

First I googled "stents" and bypass surgery to have a better idea of what I was talking about. The article is from the New York Times and was written in February of this year so it's up to date. If you don't want to register with the NYT (it's free including their archives now) but want to read the article, let me know. I'll do a copy and paste and email it.

Ray went in for the relatively minor stent surgery this morning. Once the surgeon took a look, he reconsidered. They're now planning coronary bypass; probably tomorrow but possibly as soon as tonight.

I did some checking with friends who have lived in this area far longer than I. The Modesto hospital has a reputation of being the best in the area for heart surgery. That's reassuring. It's also reassuring that bypass surgery has become almost commonplace these days and that most patients recover and are much improved.

I tell myself all this but I'm still frightened. We were convincing each other on the phone that it will be fine and that we're glad they've finally put a name to his ongoing illnesses. I asked if he wanted me to come in before the surgery and he said no. They haven't set a time, Modesto is 45 miles from here (probably 50 because the hospital is on the north end of town) and it made no sense for me to sit in a hospital waiting room for a day. He's right of course and I'm glad it's Modesto and not the small hospital here but I wish we were closer. I haven't had a vehicle since June (hadn't mentioned that before) and I'm depending on friends for rides when I need them.

I do have transportation lined up on short notice if I need it; otherwise I'll wait until after the surgery unless the hospital calls to come in sooner.

On a somewhat brighter note, I spent about 20 minutes on the phone with Rebecca right before Ray called me. She was her usual chatty self; telling me all about her semi-permanent grounding. I could tell them grounding doesn't work terribly well with her; she enjoys hanging around the house. Once again, Rochelle was out - at the laundromat this time. Elcie was there.

Oh, if you notice a deleted post it was just a weather report which I zapped because I looked at the post and it didn't publish like it appeared in the draft. It just said rain tomorrow and then a steady rise in temps to the high 80's by the end of next week. Don't they know it's the first day of autumn in this hemisphere?

Not much else going on here. Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers and have a good weekend everyone.