November 6, 2012 - Election Night

Election Night

It's 9:00 PM on Election Night. First time I ever remember my dad not sitting glued to the TV. Not this year. By the time the election votes have been tallied, my dad will have just been taken off his feeding tube in preparation for his surgery tomorrow afternoon. 
Election Night. Mom and I are watching TV to keep our minds busy so we don't worry about dad's surgery tomorrow. We have decided to pack lunch for all four family members who will be spending the day in the waiting room. Mom makes a mean pimento cheese, so that's what we will have, along with apples, bananas, chips and chocolate.
Chocolate. Isn't that one of the four major food groups? I'm sure it is ... Conrad, mom and dad will beg to differ with you if you say otherwise. Either way, I hear its one of the best comfort foods, so we will all take advantage of its effects tomorrow. Mmmmm, chocolate.
The nurses in ICU are absolutely amazing. Katelyn, Karen, Ash, Amy ... You all are Godsends! You most definitely have all found your calling! Nothing we can say or do could ever come close to the gratitude we owe you. We have been able to sleep because we know you all are taking care of Dad. We know he will be in your excellent care for a while longer after his surgery tomorrow.
Tomorrow. The day we have been waiting for. Dad will go under the knife and have a couple of new additions to his body. Not human additions, but man-made additions to make his life more comfortable during the next few months while he undergoes treatments. He will have a trach in this throat. He will have a feeding tube in his stomach. These things scare us because we know nothing about them. We are hoping to understand them quickly, so we can help dad with this journey.
Family: Mercer, Effie, Bill, Christy, Conrad and Carol. (I wont include grandchildren and great grandchildren's names here.) Our family is unique. Our journey is unique. Our thoughts and conversations are often chaotic in nature, at least to outsiders, but we totally understand each other. Have you ever sat and listened to an orchestra as they warm up before a concert? That's us. We are an ensemble of harmony, atonal, dissonance, expressionism, impromptu, fugue, obbligato, polyphonic, staccato, and often a lot of stretto. However, when it comes down to the wire, we pull it all together and produce a magnificent symphony. (Or so it seems to us!)
Tomorrow. The day of our performance. We will be scared. We will be excited. We will be nervous. We will be confident. We will be strong. We will be family. Our family isn't complete without Mercer. Tomorrow morning we will tell him how much we love him. We will tell him how much we need him. He will hear us, and he will fight for his life.
Please continue to pray. You all are the notes, the staff, the clef, the key, the cord, the measures, and the pitch that help us make our symphony happen. Much love to you all.