Gary Kleinsmith

Greetings everyone.  I wanted to provide a single place for everyone to go to get updates, provide well wishes, and generally learn more about what is going on with my dad.

On Saturday, May 17, 2010, my dad was in the backyard, working to remove the old jacuzzi spa that has not been used for some time.  He was using his sawzall to cut large chunks of the spa apart in order to remove it piece by piece.  During that time, he was straining as many of the pieces were heavy and he felt like me may have over done it a bit.  He came inside to rest and began sweating more heavily than normal.

My mom decided that they would go get some lunch in order for him to take a break and relax a bit.  He eventually began to not feel very well and was asking if it was hot at the restaurant when the air conditioning was working just fine.  They eventually called the paramedics after my dad mentioned that he thought he would drive himself to St. Jude Medical Center.

Upon arrival at St. Jude, he learned that he was in the middle of having a mild heart attack.  Thankfully, they caught it in time so as to prevent any significant damage to the heart.  The doctor immediately performed an angioplasty in order to open up the blockage in his heart.  They learned that he had 100% blockage in one artery (the one already containing two stents) and found that he had blockages between 60-80% in the other major arteries as well.

The doctors have decided to perform a quintuple bypass on Tuesday morning at 7:30AM.  He should be done with surgery and back to his room by about 1PM.

The outpouring of support and prayers for my dad has been wonderful.  We appreciate all of the well wishes and offers of assistance for my mom and the rest of us.  I will continue to update everyone via this blog as it makes more sense to have a central location for disseminating information.

My dad is in room 47 on the 4th floor at St. Jude Medical Center.  As he prepares for his surgery tomorrow, please continue to pray for God's peace on this entire process.  Pray for the skill of the surgeons, nurses, and staff that will be a part of the procedure and aftercare.  Pray for peace and calm for my mom and strength as we all go through this process.

I am available by cell phone for any information that you might need and we ask that the visits are kept to a minimum so my dad can rest leading up to the surgery.

My dad has my mom's netbook computer in his room and we set him up on Skype.  So if you are looking for an easy way to have a quick call and see him in person his Skype username is GaryKleinsmith.

Thanks again and talk to you all very soon.