About 2 weeks ago, my father experienced fairly severe chest pains and we were able to convince him to make an appointment to get it checked out. The EKG did not reveal anything, but he was scheduled for a stress test.

Yesterday, he had his stress test and was not able to last more than a couple of minutes. From my mom, I learned he had been coughing a bit, without signs of a cold and that he had complained about not feeling well after carrying Abby up a flight of stairs over the weekend. He also told her he was pretty sure he wasn't going to pass the stress test, so there must have been other indications of issues he wasn't willing to share.

During the stress test, the doctors also found out that he had restricted blood/oxygen flow to approximately half of his heart, so he was immediately admitted to St. Joseph's hospital that morning for an angiogram.

The angiogram was performed this morning at 9AM and they found 98% blockage on a major artery and 70% blockage over large sections of a couple of other arteries. The result was that an angioplasty was not sufficient and he will be having a triple bypass.

My mom is with my dad, but I am sure he is frightened. He really has not had any major health issues until now, so this must feel even more daunting.

For all of us, this is a scary time, but I am so thankful that we were able to catch it before something major should occur. I am also extremely grateful that our whole family is able to be here for him and my mom.