Above all, God is Good

I never expected Brian's new job to be so taxing on us, but it really has been. I was used to Brian helping around the house, helping get the kids ready in the morning, helping with their homework in the evenings. But September really was a trying month for us. Everyday I fall asleep by 9 or 10 pm, and I'm up before 6. I know a lot of women do this on a daily basis, but this is my first time doing it without Brian's help and I feel permanently exhausted. Then came October and I got a call. It was that dreaded phone call. By now, all of my sisters have gone to Mexico to live by my parents; I'm the only one left in my dear country. So, on Sunday 10/7 one of my sisters called me with the news that dad was having a heart attack. It's very serious. He's dying. Get down here NOW.

I didn't know that American citizens can't travel by air to Mexico with their birth certificate and an ID any longer, which is the way I always traveled before. As of October 1st, if you want to get on a plane to Mexico, you need your passport. So, I called just about every airline I could think of and they all told me I had to go by land, I couldn't get on the plane without my passport. Not even if my dad was dying.

So, I gathered whatever I could think of, and got on the first plane going out of O'Hare close to a border town, San Antonio. I rented a car there, and started driving to Laredo, where I returned the car and hoped on a cab that took me one block east of the bridge that crosses the Rio Grande. It is the eeriest sensation to cross the border by foot; there's some sort of surreal element to it. I felt like I was on the Twilight Zone. I walked to the Mexican side and got on a bus that took me to the town where I grew up. I arrived on Monday at 11 pm, and I went straight to the ICU in the hospital where my oldest son was born, and I saw dad. He survived the angioplasty, and was recovering moderately fine. "I knew you'd come", he said. I could barely speak.

Because of my dad's blood clotting condition (thrombophilia), the attack became what they call a heart attack in progress. Each time the clot in his aorta would move a little, it would let the heart beat again, and then stop it again. It was like a succession of heart attacks in a row. And they estimated that he was having this over a period of 4.5 - 5 hours, so the doctor was explaining to my family that the permanent damage to the muscles of his heart would be about a 20% at the very least, but he was afraid he would find more afterwards. He was very happy, though, to see that my dad survived the operation. After it, he told my mom he wanted to stay out there and cry with her, because he never thought dad would survive.

But to everyone's amazement, dad recovered so fast that by Wednesday they released him from the hospital. We took him home and made sure he didn't do ANYTHING, which is NOT an easy task. Dad is the most active 64 year old man in the county! He loves to climb mountains and loves taking care of his garden, and going to work bright and early every day. It took a lot of convincing, because they have a very precarious economic situation now. They used to live very comfortably, but my dad's illness has been eating away (fast) all the assets they used to have. So, it was a very hard to get the money to pay his hospital bill. Mexico doesn't have health insurance companies, really; very few hospitals offer a "major medical expenses" insurance, but by the time this was around, dad was no longer eligible (he had the first case of thrombosis 22 years ago, disqualifying him).

So my sisters and I called upon the generosity of friends and family to get the money together. We covered a lot of the bill ourselves, but lots of friends and family contributed. When we called upon them, we were able to attest how much our family is loved in our community. It just doesn't cease to amaze you how the power of prayer can make miracles happen. And how God is always with us. One particular story comes to mind. We called the institute where my dad was studying to become a priest back in the 1950's and 1960's, Misioneros de Guadalupe, and asked for their support. The Superior explained that he couldn't divert money from the missions, but he would find an anonymous sponsor that could support our family. He sent $2,000 dollars. Later we learned that his mother died the day after my dad was released from the hospital, and she gave him his inheritance before her death. This is the money he used to help my family. I still can't even write that without crying tears of joy. He just had his knee operated, and he came to our city, a 5 hour car drive, just to say mass in our home, so dad could have communion, and left afterwards. A true blessing this man was to us.

Our Noni (my MIL) was another true blessing to my family. Without her help, I wouldn't have been able to go to my dad and help out. She came by every morning at 6 to get the kids ready and drive them to daycare, and then she came at night to feed them and do homework with them. My friend Amy, our daycare provider, was also incredibly nice, and refused to charge her regular rate to keep an eye on our kids, even though she had not only Connor, but also Coco to drive and pick up to and from school. She donate that larger portion to my dad's fund. Tracie started a prayer chain amongst our friends, and kept praying for my family until she knew that dad was fine. My sister's MIL-to-be brought sandwiches everyday to the hospital, and let us use her home (two blocks from the hospital) as our family's headquarters. Great, great people that love us and showed their support in one way or another.

I had to come back home this week and I've been calling to ask what the doctor said after the tests to see what my dad's permanent damage will be, and the restrictions he will have. And that's when we again where shown of the power of the Good Lord. On Thursday 10/18, the doctor ran the tests on dad, and after seeing the results, he asked to have the tests done again. He could not believe it. But when he saw the second batch of tests with the same results, he told my parents: "This is nothing short of a miracle. You must really have some job left to do in this earth, because the Lord looked kindly upon you (parenthesis just to say that THANKFULLY, in Mexico doctors CAN SAY the name of the LORD without fear of lawsuits!!!!). The permanent damage to your heart is around 2%. You can go back to your normal activities". I still feel goosebumps when I think about it.

So, that's why I've been away for so long. I have to thank every one of my online friends who have been sending emails and asking how are we doing, showing their concern and love. I didn't have much time to call anyone, or send emails to explain. I'm sorry if I had you concerned! I'm glad to be back with my family and to know my dad is fine now. Thank you for your prayers, thank you for your messages.

Lots of love to all.