Unexpected trip

My family is napping now (or at least trying to) but I just can't.  So for those of you who are interested, here is an update on the last 24 hours.

Last night I was fixing dinner and waiting on Hunter to get home from work when my sister called me.  A nurse at a hospital in Columbia, SC called her to say that my dad was there in the ER and had gone into cardiac arrest twice.  The nurse said that we all needed to come.  Now.

I spent the next hour or two packing clothes for all 4 of us, cleaning up some basic stuff around the house (probably not a good idea to leave a washer full of clean wet clothes sitting there for an undetermined amount of time), and making plans on the phone with various family members.  I was in a daze through most of this.  Hunter got home at some point and took over with the kids, which was good because I really couldn't focus on them.  I was just trying to figure out things like whether or not I should pack dress clothes for a funeral.  These are the things you never expect to think about.

We got on the road around 7:30 and the trip went pretty smoothly.  Hunter drove for the majority of the trip and we got to our hotel around 2 AM.  Thankfully the kids both slept in until 8 AM so we did actually get some rest.

Soon after we left on our trip we got an update on my dad and it seems to be positive, relatively speaking.  He had gone into cardiac arrest 3 times but they found the blockage (100% in one artery) and put in a stint.  The stint was helping the blood flow and the rest of his heart seemed to be okay.  He has to stay in the ICU for at least 48 hours and then if all goes well he'll be released to another floor of the hospital and go home as early as Tuesday.  He'll have an EKG on Monday so that will tell us more.

My brother, sister, and their families all met me at the hospital this morning.  (Hunter stayed at the hotel with the kids since Eleanor needed breakfast and they weren't allowed in the ICU anyway.)  Japheth also drove from Florida overnight; my sister was here last night since she just lives an hour away.  I got to see my dad a couple of times, and I think he finally understood what had happened to him.  He was playing golf when he started to feel sick, and somebody at the golf course called 911.  (THANK YOU to this stranger!  He helped save my dad's life.)  He ended up going to the hospital in an ambulance with the sirens on and everything; he told us about it and said "that was exciting" in a dry tone, so he obviously still has his sense of humor.  :)  After he got to the hospital he doesn't remember much, but that is when he started going into cardiac arrest.  He seemed to be doing well earlier this morning when he told us about all of this, but later before we left for lunch he was starting to feel pretty sick again.  We all left to get some lunch and rest and to let him rest too, but we'll go back over soon and find out more.

Thank you so much to everybody for your kind words, thoughts, and prayers.  They really do mean a lot!  It has been a scary and stressful time and it's nice to know there are so many people here for us.