I don't know anyone, age 79, who is more active than my father. Forget the age - Walt Pierce has done more than just about anyone I know. He's hiked the Appalachian Trail. He's hiked across Ireland. He biked up the California mountains... all since retirement! So this past year has been a real bummer for him as his left hip has just completely deteriorated.
Yesterday was hip replacement day for my dad. The pic above shows his optimistic self getting prepped for surgery. His smile wasn't quite as bright when we saw him in his room, 4 hours after surgery. He did, however, put on a good front for us. I checked in several times last night to find out that he was going through some serious pain until around 9PM, when his health care professionals were able to find the right pain med cocktail. (It would have been nice to know that morphine doesn't work well for him... tough way to find out.)
My sister, Kimberly, called me this morning to let me know that he slept well throughout the night and is feeling much better this morning. He's already had a physical therapy session this morning, getting out of bed and finding his way to his chair. If I know my dad, he won't stay down for long. Along the way and despite his pain, I'm sure he will share his bank of stories with all the nurses, doctors and therapists. Imagine - a fresh audience who have never heard that he has "never let the truth get in the way of a good story."
Dad has a couple other hobbies he will continue to pursue while he's laid up. He loves to read. His family and friends all pitched in to buy him a new 3G Kindle. The response to help fund his Kindle overwhelmed us. Consequently, we purchased the more expensive one - so he won't have to figure out how to use WiFi. And we have almost enough to buy him a case with a light built in. The pic at the right is of my sister Kimberly and me with Dad, after he opened his gift. Since I already have over 400 books on my Kindle, we put his Kindle on my account. He'll have no lack of books to read over the next 3 months. Despite his pain, he is already reading. He wanted me to know this morning that he's already finished Thomas Paine's Common Sense and is now reading Ben Franklin's Autobiography.
His other hobby is writing his blog, www.walsinepierce.com. I'm sure he'll be writing up a bunch. I'm going to offer to be his editor over the next few days while he's in the hospital. His readers will want to know all the daily details!
On the way home last night, my brother Todd and his wife, Amy, joined Mary Kay and me for a late dinner at Applebees in Wadsworth, Ohio. In addition to everything else going on yesterday, it was Mary Kay's birthday. She has become accustomed to her birthday being shoved aside because of Christmas - it's tough to compete with the birthday of the King of Kings! However, yesterday, her birthday played second fiddle to Dad's surgery. As usual, Mary Kay focused so much on Dad that she put aside any concern for her own day. It did help that she received so many kind wishes on Facebook throughout the day.
I'm planning to head back up to Akron again today. In fact, I may be going up every day while he's in the hospital and then I may be going up to Barberton, where he lives, each day after that for awhile. So... I may not be quite as on top of things as far as my own blog and videos are concerned. I'm certain that everyone will understand.
Thanks for all your prayers and well wishes. I share each one with Dad. He loves hearing what people say. Dad is such a "people person." Each one has his or her own story and Dad loves to hear the stories... and then offer ways to make them even better. After all, he'll say: "Never let the truth get in the way of a good story!"
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