Quadruple bypass.

 This month, May 2014 is the tenth anniversary of Peters heart operation. He was always fit and active, but in 1997, after a day moving house, (something we seemed to do on a regular basis) he had a heart attack, went into Wellington Hospital and had a stent put into his heart. The effects were instantaneous, and he came home to his usual busy life.

In 2004 he had a hip replacement at the Bundaberg hospital, and a couple of days later had a small heart attack while still in hospital. After further tests etc, he was told he needed open heart surgery, a scary proposition at the best of times.  He was booked into Prince Charles Hospital in Brisbane.

Prince Charles Hospital...generally specialises in heart patients.

At this point I will digress a moment, I think it is probably only in Aussie that you can get a road with the name of rode.  The hospital was on Rode Road….however pronounced Rode ee Road.

The operation went well and the staff were wonderful. One day after the op he was on his feet, feeling pretty wobbly, but every day after that he was walking and getting stronger. I can’t remember the doctor’s name, Dr Standford or Stannard I think. He was terrific, took every care and, Peter had a quadruple bypass done.

At this time, we were living in Bundaberg, but our oldest daughter was pregnant and we were half way through packing up and moving to the Gold Coast to be nearer her when we got the call…..we have a bed, be here tomorrow. Oh boy, the timing couldn't have been worse.

So we packed up and drove to Brisbane, 5 hours away. I stayed at a hostel next to the hospital, and my youngest daughter came up from Melbourne to be with us which meant all the kids were close at hand.

Just a couple of days before discharge we had a family dinner
at the hospital.

 He had one or two hiccoughs, but made a speedy recovery, and after about six or eight weeks was allowed to drive again and given the all clear for work. Of course, he was not allowed to help with the moving house, so he went and stayed with our second son while I went home to pack up the house and get it moved down. Guess what. Two of our best friends, hearing the situation came over from New Zealand, hired a car and drove up to help me move house. Now that is what I call true frienship.

Sue and Steve, who came to help me move house while Peter was recuperating.

 Medical science has come a long way, and they do research into some weird and wonderful areas, but in this case, they save many many lives. Without it I would probably have been a widow many years ago. Instead we have had ten years of travelling, teaching, seeing our families grow and prosper, more grandchildren born, and house sitting all over the country. He probably would not be here to play with his grandchildren like this. 

 As things stand, he has many more years ahead of him. I'm very grateful.