Ok, so that's dad on the left. You might remember him as the guy who had a massive heart attack and four way by-pass a few weeks ago. I had a few minutes free today, so I went into his cardiac rehab space, and took this photo of him. He's doing incredibly well.
Saturday night, I went for a walk with him, and during the walk, he averaged about 4 miles per hour over the course of four miles. For those of you unfamiliar with walking paces, this is about the fastest most people can go without breaking into a jog. The last mile, dad completed at a 4.2mph pace.
He also walks 4mph at a 4% incline in the rehab center when he's on the treadmill. That's pretty impressive for someone at any age. Dad is 68 and he is a total stud. After a big scare at the end of April, he is like a new person. A month ago, his cardiac surgeon told him that he looked like a new man.
Tomorrow he goes to visit his cardiologist. We are praying for a few things to happen tomorrow. We are praying that Dad will be able to stop taking some of his medication (like coumadin) and cut his dosage in others (like lipitor). We are praying that the ejection fraction of dad's heart (a measure of it's efficiency) will have improved from 35% to somewhere above 40%. (40% is the upper cut-off for a condition called congestive heart failure). We are also praying that Dad will be given the green light for more activity (like bike riding). My dad used to ride his bike a lot, and he misses it. It would be great if he were released to do this again.
My dad has made amazing progress. While he hasn't returned to walking 12 miles per day yet ( I think the most he's logged is about 6), he has so much more energy and vigor with which to carry out his walking that it is like he is a new man. Me, my sister, her husband, and Jamie, all have trouble keeping up with him.
Pray with us for a good report and some more positive changes tomorrow.
1 comment:
Yeah. Not to mention that looks alot like a smile on his face...
That made my day.
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