Dana's Open Heart 4 By-Pass Surgery

It all started on a Friday night around 12:30 when Dana had a heart attack at home. I was ready to grab the phone to call 911 when Dana shook his head and said that the pain was starting to go down. I said I was going to call the ER, but Dana staggered to his feet and said, “I’ll call them. I want to talk to the doctor myself.” Dana called the hospital and talked to someone, who told him that he was probably just having a gall bladder attack. Sunday Dana preached both times even though he didn’t feel good and was unable to rest Sunday afternoon due to discomfort in his chest.

Monday morning Dana went to work to drive folk to the doctor and hospital. I called him soon after he left to ask if he had made a doctor’s appointment for that morning and when he said “no” I insisted that he do it right away. About an hour later Dana called me from the doctor’s office saying that he was just wasting his time, his blood pressure was almost normal, and that he felt like walking out. I told Dana to stay right there until he saw the doctor. Dr. Allred immediately sent Dana over to the hospital. I got dressed and drove to our local hospital. A couple of hours later, Dr. Allred came into the room with a solemn face to let Dana know that he had suffered a heart attack. Dana grinned and said that he felt just fine and was ready to go home. Instead Dana was transported by ambulance to the Cookeville hospital.

Tuesday morning they did a heart catherization where they discovered that Dana had three main blockages and notified the main heart specialist. Things had happened so quickly that it was hard to take it all in. Since Dana had been put on blood thinners for the catherization Dr. Wilson decided to try and wait until Friday afternoon to do open heart surgery to give Dana's heart a rest from the attack and build back up Dana's platelets while staying on call for emergency surgery in case Dana went into cardiac arrest. All week Dana's blood pressure and sugar was up and down despite medication to stabilize him.

(Annette & William with Grandpa before his open heart surgery)

Thursday afternoon Dana started feeling pressure on his chest and when the nurse checked Dana’s blood pressure she called Dr. Wilson, who came down on the floor immediately with his team. They gave Dana nitro, but it didn't last long so they put him on a nitro drip to see if Dana could make it until first thing in the morning. I called Dawn, who had gone home for a day after spending the first three days with me in the hospital, and Dwight, who was working. Between staff members coming and going doing all kinds of tests on Dana, I called Dwight to see if he had started to the hospital yet when I didn’t hear anything back from him. It was a rainy day and Dwight had taken my car in case he needed to rush down to the hospital. Dwight said that he had stopped by a friend's auto body shop and would be coming later, which struck me as a strange thing for him to do, but just then the respiratory therapist came in the room so I hung up. About an hour and a half later Dawn arrived with Annette and William so I let her go back to the room to be with her dad while I went out to the waiting room to be with my grandkids. After talking with my grandkids for a bit I looked at my watch and realized that Dwight should have arrived, but then I remembered our strange phone conservation earlier. So teasingly I asked Annette, "Did Uncle Dwight do something to Grandma's car?" Annette got a real guilty look on her face and quickly replied, "Oh, don’t worry Grandma, Uncle Dwight is okay." I then realized that something had happened as I frantically pressed the number for Dwight's cell phone. Dwight admitted that he had wrecked, but assured me that he was okay- he had just slid off the road around one of the slick curves going too fast to get down to the hospital quickly, and had taken my car to the body shop. He was planning on bringing his old clunker of a truck, but I told Dwight to drive his dad's truck as it was more road worthy making him promise me to call me as soon as he started and to be real careful. Dwight and Dawn had decided not to tell me about the wreck until after Dana had surgery so that I wouldn't worry- as though I wouldn't realize that something had happened to one of my kids, uh, not to mention my car!

(Dana shaving himself one last time the night before surgery- even though he could barely stand up)

Early Friday morning Dana went into surgery. Everything went normal except that Dana ended up with four by-passes instead of three. After surgery we went up to the cardiac waiting room where they let us see Dana after an hour telling us that in two hours they would take Dana off the respirator and we could see him again. Two hours later one of the nurses came out to say that they had taken Dana off the respirator, but he was in a lot of pain and they were trying to get under control. Then a couple of hours later another nurse came out to say that when they tested Dana's oxygen level he had high levels of carbon dioxide in his body and they had put him back on the respirator again. Six hours later I was finally able to see Dana again, who stayed on the respirator until midnight!

(Dana in cardiac ICU so weak he can barely keep his eyes open while trying to talk on the phone.)

Dana stayed in the cardiac intensive care unit until late Monday evening. My kids convinced me to go home to sleep for those three nights. Late Friday night when I went home for the first night, we discovered that our new heating unit wasn’t working and inside the house it was only 50 degrees. When Dwight flipped a switch in the breaker box sparks flew so he shut the unit off, we built a fire in our wood stove, and went to bed. Early Saturday morning, I called the heating company and they promised to send a guy out to check our unit. Thankfully when we got back home late Saturday evening we had heat in the house.

(Getting transferred from CICU to the cardiac unit late Monday night at 10:30 p.m.)

(The best friend of every open heart patient.)

(At last getting out of bed, sitting up in a chair, and wearing pants!)

Monday Dwight drove me back down to the hospital with my suitcases packed for another week’s stay at the hospital with Dana. That afternoon a tornado came through the area and we were evacuated from the intensive care unit and had to go down into the dining room where there were no windows until the storm passed by. Talk about a crazy time! At 10:30 pm they moved Dana down into a room on the cardiac unit- a big blessing as I was getting ready to camp out in the small waiting room on the hard chairs for the night. When Dana got settled into his room and I opened up my suitcases all my clothes were soaking wet! Dwight had covered my luggage with plastic, but the truck bed had held water. What a mess! Tuesday morning, Dawn drove back from Nashville to take all my clothes to the local Laundromat to wash and dry them for me as I didn't have any vehicle. I don't know what I would have done without my kids. They were such a support.

(Dana walking around the unit with oxygen.)

(Having an incredible experience to have a nurse with the same name- the two Dana's)

(Another breathing treatment.)

(Going through all kinds of instructions before getting discharged.)

Dana was released from the hospital the next Friday morning. At first it looked like Dana would have to go home with oxygen as his oxygen level would sometimes go down from having his left lung lobe collapsed with pneumonia. Dana's transportation company came and picked us up to take Dana home with all our luggage. Before going home they drove Dana to the office where everyone was excited to see him again, gave us a signed get well card from everyone, and big fruit basket. Then we stopped at the drug store as Dana had thirteen different prescriptions that needed filling. He is taking insulin shots four times a day to help control his sugar. When we finally arrived home we discovered that we were locked out of the house!!! I had left my front door key outside for the heating unit fellow so he could get inside. The fellow had locked our back door as well and I didn't have a key for it. Thankfully the driver was able to jimmy the door lock and open the door. I thought it was a fitting finale for the wild and crazy past two weeks with Dana’s hospital episode.

(Dana's first breath of fresh air in two weeks.)

(Sitting down at the drug store.)

(One of Dana's daily walks down the road and stopping to chat with a neighbor.)

(Home at last!!!)

Our Farm Nursery

The other week we brought home some baby chicks. For a couple of weeks Dana was haunting our Tractor Supply store every day as they weren't sure just when the chicks would arrive. These baby fuzz balls go fast and we needed to replenish our hen stock.

So now the brooder, with its heat lamp turned on for warmth, is buzzing with adorable peeping, chirping, tiny bodies that sleep, eat, and run around on tiny feet. You'd be amazed at how much noise those tiny critters can make and how fast those little feet go.



Within a couple a of days tiny feathers started appearing on the wings of these fur balls and they have grown almost twice their size since we brought them home- not surprising with all the special formula feed that they are consuming. We keep food and water available around the clock for the sweet baby chicks.

Active and so alert those tiny eyes don't miss a thing. They are so fascinating to watch. Dana is already feeding them by hand. As soon as he sticks his big hand down in the brooder with some feed all the fur balls come running. You'd think the dear things were starved.

Not only did we get some chicks, but this year we bought three ducks as well. Right now they blend right in with the chicks even though they are slightly bigger in size. I can't wait to hear the duckies begin to quack. What fun!

Christmas on the Mountain

Dana enjoyed going out every day to check on his chickens, feed them, and gather the eggs. Lo and behold, if one rainy cold night he didn't get the hen door completely shut. The next morning I saw the door wide open and ran outside, but it was too late. My dogs had killed all the hens except for our big rooster! I couldn't believe that none of the hens had gone into the pen where they would have been safe instead of walking out the open door. Talk about a bunch of bird brains! We miss our dear hens and the fat brown eggs they gave us. We already had a double yoked egg. They were such good layers. So this spring we shall have to start all over again. Meanwhile we are going to make our henhouse door a bit more secure.

This year for something different I made a candle light Christmas dinner (or rather supper) as Dawn and her family made a quick trip home the day before Christmas Eve so that we could have our Christmas together.

I used my Christmas village for the centerpiece adding greenery and white lights with a couple of white candles. The food I lined up on my counter in the kitchen doing a self-serve buffet.

It turned out simply beautiful! Annette and William enjoyed the wonder of eating in candle light that gave off a festive air around the table setting the mood perfectly for giving gifts afterwards.

To us a perfect Christmas is sharing family holiday times together!

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is a time of making memories with lots of food, family, and fellowship. Here are some pictures of our Thanksgiving this year.

Playing games with Grandpa is so much fun!

(Dana & William)

Out on the porch after dinner watching the kids play in the yard.

(Randy's parents & Granny- Randal, Granny, and Judy)

Even the dogs get in on the fun.

(Dana, our daughter, Dawn, standing and Granny)

Ninety-five-year-old Granny, who still lives by herself at home.

Miss Annette Joy Moore

What is Uncle Dwight doing with the balloons?

(Our son, Dwight, sitting and William)

Now that's what I call a hat!

(William Randal Moore Jr.)

The day after Thanksgiving we all went up to Sterns, Kentucy to ride a train.

(Annette & William in the train depot)

Dwight standing in front of the engine.

At last we finally boarded the train.

(William and Annette)

Waiting for the train to fill up and start.

(Dawn, Dwight, and Randy)

Annette at the window checking out the scenery.

Lookie there, Mommy, we're moving!

(Dawn and William)

Autumn Frenzy

Last week I heard a flock of geese honking and flying high overhead heading south signaling that autumn has truly arrived up here in the mountains of Tennessee.

It has been so dry that instead of a colorful fall most of the leaves were faded quickly falling down to the ground.

As the colder temperatures moved in and brisk breezes blew our dogs became frisky and acted like pups again: rolling, kicking up their heels in the leaves, and chasing each other madly around in circles.

Shep especially likes to keep close guard at the chicken pen where to his immense frustration Solomon, our large rooster, stands his ground only inches away from Shep's nose while Natasha watches and waits to see if one of the hens will come close enough to the fence to chase.

Even Lucy Lou pokes her nose through the wires wishing that she could be inside chasing hens.

And Sarah Annabelle, although residing inside, feels the difference in the air.

Without warning she will jump down from her perch, wherever she happens to be at the time, and will race through the house as if to stir things up a bit.

Inside and out lots of autumn frenzy is happening here on the Walker farm.

Dana's New Girlfriend

You might say that we are going a bit dog crazy around this house. Best Friends called me the other week about an abandoned golden German shepherd. Well Dana decided to check her out first in order to convince me that we didn't need another dog, even if it was a German shepherd. He came home all excited about this dog insisting that I just had to go and see her. After talking nonstop about this dog- rather unusual for Dana- I agreed to go and see this wonderful dog. Guess what? We ended up bringing her home with us.

It is hard to fathom someone dropping a sweet and loving dog like Lady off and abandoning her. There was another German shepherd with Lady, but was killed by a vehicle before Best Friends could rescue it. Dana has always wanted a dog that would want to ride along in the truck with him. Lady loves pickup trucks and as soon as Dana starts his up, she wants to jump in. I kid Dana that Lady is his new girlfriend.

The most exciting news of all on our farm is that our dear little chicks from this spring, which have grown into nice fat hens, have started laying eggs. They should the way Dana feeds them by hand and pampers the dear things. Even I throw scraps out to them. We now gather light brown speckled, white, and dark brown eggs each day. What fun! So we are a'buzzin up here in the autumn mountains of Tennessee.

From Dog Days to Puppy Days

Our dog days quickly turned into puppy days when I rescued six puppies. Talk about turning our place out here in the woods into an uproar.

These adorable little critters were in danger of being run over and starved. They ate and ate until their little tummies were full.

Here is one little fellow who is sticking close by the food dish.

Another two get a drink of water.




I placed the dear little things in my enclosed back garden for safety. As soon as I would open up the back door there was a mad scramble of puppies trying to climb up the steps with tails all madly wagging.



Meanwhile the big dogs were trying to figure out what had invaded their back yard. Here Shep and one little fellow have a doggy introduction.



Talk about curious!
The pups kept sticking their noses and heads out through the lattice trying to wiggle their fat little bodies through the fence.





And you wouldn't believe all the holes they found underneath the fence. First a nose would poke out...

Then a head...

Then two heads would appear while the rest tried to squeeze out too.

Here Shep is guarding one of the pups that escaped.

I gave them doggy biscuits to try and keep them entertained, knotted old nylons into doggy toys, and anything else I could think of.

The only quiet time was when they took a puppy nap. If they didn't roll completely over on their backs with their legs in the air they would stretch out flat on any surface where they happened to be for a quick snooze.

Here two brothers are still enough to snap a picture.

Every couple of hours I was counting heads to make sure that they were still in the garden and all the wiggly little bodies were safe. We kept blocking holes and rescuing pups that hung themselves up in the lattice. After five days when they kept escaping, I call the local animal rescue shelter and they came and got the puppies.

I hugged all the furry little bodies good-bye. It was hard to see them go. It's what you call puppy love.