Just a quick note for those who know and love my grandpa, Tex Knight. I’ll be posting updates randomly on Twitter, Facebook, and Friendfeed (also in the right column of my website) but I don’t have a whole lot of online access other than texting and phone. Talked with him for about an hour this morning by his bedside and he’s doing quite well, heart pretty much beating on its own.
For those who don’t know the details, I’ll try to explain the best I can, although I’ll probably have some details wrong. My mom’s dad was feeling a little woozy this past week and I believe he had fallen on Friday and went to the ER. He’s been pretty quiet about his recent ailments as most 84-year-olds tend to do, I suppose. He wanted to leave the hospital and get home – I’m not sure if there was any diagnosis at that point.
He called my Uncle Jim (his son) and Aunt Phib (UJ/AP) Saturday afternoon apparently sounding a little off. They live a few minutes down the road from the retirement home he lives in, so they’re usually the first contact for him. They were heading down to dinner together and he passed out. After being rushed to the ER, the doctors put a temporary pacemaker on him as his heart was not beating regularly.
Saturday night, UJ/AP made all the calls to family at which point Mom and I received their call saying he was in the ER. Mom has been on the road for a week doing a quick tour of the south, making several stops. She had arrived in Louisville to see me Saturday night and was planning on staying a few days. Well, by 9am Sunday, we had both decided to drive straight back to Pennsylvania and see Grandpa.
On Sunday morning, the doctors did some sort of procedure with a stent that I won’t even attempt to describe. Basically, he had a heart attack and needed to have the procedure done immediately. We were all grateful for UJ/AP who spent all day keeping everyone up to date, particularly when they shared the good news that he was recovering well that afternoon. Mom and I arrived last night at 8:30 and got to talk to him for a few minutes before letting him rest some more – and getting some sleep of our own.
Geeks as we DiUbaldis are, Mom and I both had our laptops out this morning in Grandpa’s ICU room using wireless internet. (Mom, though, legitimately using it for her mobile-work). Grandpa is quite alert, but naturally needs his rest and dozes off occasionally. It’s been nice to be by his side and chat with him as I did for about an hour this morning.
Gotta go get some lunch and get away from the computer for now. Thanks to everyone who’s sent their well-wishes our way. I’ll pass the word on to the Trooper (my hardy Grandpa).
<UPDATE> As of Monday evening, he’s had the temporary pacemaker removed and is recovering well. Consider no news good news from this point! I’ll be spending most of Tuesday working with him on his 100-page memoirs that he’s been trying to finish up. I fly back to Louisville on Wednesday. </UPDATE>