24 Hours

As far as I can tell, Kiefer Sutherland and his hit TV Show 24 Hours have nothing on me. 24 hours ago we were planning the final details of the Wedding of Jonathan and Maria. Joanie and I were arguing over what food to serve during the rehearsal dinner and where to get it. A few minutes later we were talking to Jonathan about wedding details on the phone when he told us they had just gotten word that Maria had to go into the hospital in the morning. This gorgeous 23 yr. old nurse who loves my son with everything she is was facing a heart catheterization and a suddenly uncertain future. Joanie and I packed the car in less than an hour and made the five hour drive from Tallmadge, Ohio to Indianapolis, Indiana in 4 1/2 hours. With less than 3 hours sleep we got up and drove to the hospital for a 7:00 admittance and an 8:30 heart cath. By 10:00 the doctor had Maria's parents, Jonathan and us in a room telling us the unthinkable. She would have to have emergency heart by-pass surgery. The wedding was off and far off from our minds. It was now a race to surgery to make sure that this special young woman would not have a massive heart attack. It was so acute that the surgeons rearranged their entire surgical rotation, made an operating room available immediately, and brought in the top heart surgeon in the hospital (St. Vincent's has a national reputation as a heart center) to perform her surgery. Before noon she was under anesthesia and by 2:00 her blood was being pumped through a machine while they stopped her heart to do a double by-pass around her main artery. By 4:00 she was off the machine, her heart had been restarted successfully, and she was being prepared for closure. At 5:00 the surgeon was in the waiting room telling us of the successful surgery and how close a call it probably was. At 9:00 we were in her room talking to Maria and having her respond through the drug haze that was keeping her from feeling the pain.
24 Hours. From wedding details to fearing for her life. The Wedding is postponed until a later date. Jonathan is now looking for lodging (he has been staying with friends until the wedding) and preparing to spend the first week of school in class rather than on his honeymoon. I am now in a hotel room in Anderson exhausted from the last 24 Hours. But grateful to God for his providential care and guidance.
So, how was your day?