The perfect heart

My dad, bless his pea picking heart, is Mr. Health. He has always eaten small portions of very healthy food and has gone to the Y daily. One day he lifts weights and the next day he runs. Every Saturday he works on his "acreage" and then Sunday is the "DAY OF REST". Monday...he starts all over again. I can tell you that he drinks chocolate soy milk at breakfast. He drinks a glass of cranberry juice every night at dinner. He eats an apple for his "late snack"(about 8:30PM on the nose). You will find him eating sardines, oysters, and if his mom was still here he would eat liver and kidneys too. Just to really irritate my mom, he refuses to eat the same meat twice in a row, and prefers to have different "main courses" every night. He loves spinach, Brussel sprouts, salad, nuts, dark chocolate, and green tea. Now before you gag here, let me tell you that my momma raised us about like that. When we were young, we had to eat spinach, Brussel sprouts, salad, liver, and fish (not sardines or oysters... thank the Lord for loving me!!!) It is just that I chased all that stuff down with bread, soda, bread and then something sweet for dessert number one, two and three. Then I was so full that I HAD to rest. Therefore...he weighs about 10 more pounds than he did when I was born. (Please insert smiley face with tongue sticking out here!) Why didn't I inherit that from him? Now here it is....that great word...BUT...now life at the Ponderosa has changed. About a week before the West Texas Blizzard of 2011, dad went in for a his bi-annual checkup (have no clue why he went twice a year. YUCK) During that visit our family doctor, was listening to the heart and looked puzzled. He looked at the chart, looked at dad and then announced to him: "You have a heart murmur. A real good one." So on the day that we had inches of snow on top of inches of ice, my mom and dad drove up to the Dr. Office (other side of town) for a visit. Within days we were talking open heart surgery. Hello, this is the man that eats sardines, liver and kidneys? The doctors decided that they would do some testing to decide the next step. After a month, they decided that he would be good to go and just have yearly checkups. Here it is again...BUT...he went with mom for her visit to their heart doctor and the doctor announced that he wasn't happy with that decision. So, 2 1/2 weeks ago, my dad had open heart surgery. Let me explain even better. There was no clogged arteries! There was no damage to the heart! The was no unnecessary pressure on the heart! The valve had ripped. The surgeon discussed a pig valve or a mechanical valve if they couldn't stitch his together. Dad became concerned for sure. A pig valve...Would we take him to shows...would he oink? Now the man with a perfect heart has a perfect mechanical valve AND a perfect pacemaker. he got a bonus feature while in there. What a journey. Surgery went well. He was in CCU one night and ICU (if there really is a difference) another. It was home week since my family either knew the people in ICU or a family member. Lots of visitors came and went. I must tell you that they kept us laughing. One of our visitors had open heart surgery by the same surgeon. When the surgeon walked by he spoke to DR. B. Dr. B just smiled and walked on. At that point, Bill said "Hmmm he must not recognize me." Then he grabbed his shirt and did the superman thing like he was going to rip his shirt off (he is over 75) and said "bet you would recognize me now!" Such a woman and obgyn thing. And now...the man with the perfect heart is doing great at home. However no more chocolate soy milk, spinach, brussel sprouts, and green tea. No dark green leafy salad. All those good things are on hold. Including the cranberry juice that he almost threw my son out of their house for drinking the last of it. And now by doctors orders, he is NOT to have certain things more than once a week. Interfers with regulating the medication. But wait...wait for it...he can have all the beer he might like! Ha Ha. What a turn of the menu! My dad still has a perfect heart. It just got a little "bling" added to it. He is still my daddy...perfect in my eyes even when he has his moments. As my daughter said: "Grandad, glad your here with metal and all. Better than the other options." Best of all...he doesn't oink!