To clear up some of the rumors: On Memorial Day, Ollie (Dad), was chasing the sheep that were out. After 20 minutes of him running full bore, he knew something was wrong and had his wife run him to the ER. I was called from the airport. They thought he was having a heart attack but we knew it was something else because Dad's heart is great. I called the cardiologist that I had just seen land at the airport. He was there within minutes and immediately put him on a helicopter headed for operating room in St. Louis. Miraculously, he made the trip. Following a 6-hr surgery and being put into a drug induced coma for several days, he has awakened with minimal long-term damage. He did NOT have a heart attack and his heart is good but the high stress situation caused an aortic dissection. He now has a new aorta since the other was beyond repair. In mechanical terms, the fuel pump is fine but excess pressure caused a blowout on the supply and return lines. He is still in the hospital but we are hoping we can get him home sometime this weekend.
John is running the shop and for now, I have Dad's cell phone. Dad won't be out in the shop for a while. He's very weak but still loves to talk tractors. His first words when he woke up were to tell me who owned the 1655 in the shop, because none of us knew. He's quoting Oliver part numbers and his mind is 100%. He just needs to heal up and get his strength back. Dad's a go-getter but he has been given lifetime weight restrictions. We're going to have a tough time holding him down once he gets going but he will HAVE to slow down a little and not throw 100 lb weights around anymore.
Thank you to all of you who have called, visited, emailed, prayed, etc. It's been quite an emotional roller coaster the last 10 days.
John is running the shop and for now, I have Dad's cell phone. Dad won't be out in the shop for a while. He's very weak but still loves to talk tractors. His first words when he woke up were to tell me who owned the 1655 in the shop, because none of us knew. He's quoting Oliver part numbers and his mind is 100%. He just needs to heal up and get his strength back. Dad's a go-getter but he has been given lifetime weight restrictions. We're going to have a tough time holding him down once he gets going but he will HAVE to slow down a little and not throw 100 lb weights around anymore.
Thank you to all of you who have called, visited, emailed, prayed, etc. It's been quite an emotional roller coaster the last 10 days.
