Prayers for my dad...

Most people who read here know that my dad wad diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma back in August. It all started with him feeling fatigued and really out of breath during the most simplest of activities. Shortly after a visit to my house he went to the doctor to find that there was lots and lots of fluid building up in the lining around his lungs. This is when he was diagnosed with the lymphoma. Anyway, he went through some chemo treatments, and then a new round started in December. The doctors could see that the chemo was working...his lymph nodes had shrunk considerably. Yet he was still having massive amounts of this fluid continue to build up, making it very difficult for him to breath.
This last Wednesday he was admitted to the hospital for a procedure that would, in a sense, "close up" the wholes in the lung lining, preventing the fluid to get in there any longer. He was told he would have to stay in the hospital for 3 to 7 days. By Friday though...he did not seem to be getting any better. The chest tube was still pumping out lots of fluid.
I'm still not exactly clear on all the next events (the kids and I have been pretty sick ourselves) but they discovered the problem is actually with his heart. Apparently he has a condition called Constrictive Pericarditis where the lining around the heart thickens causing the heart not to be able to function correctly. Right now his heart is beating 140 beats per minute. Normal is like 60-90 beats per minute. Anyway, he was transferred yesterday to another hospital that is MUCH more equipped to handle these situations and is known for their cardiology department.
I don't really know much more at this point, but it is looking like he will be having open heart surgery sometime this week. I would appreciate any thoughts and prayers for this surgery, for the doctors to have steady hands, and for comfort for him.
The good news is is that he is in pretty good spirits. A little worried, but rightly so. He's in no pain and basically feels fine right now. So that is a good thing!
The kids and I are headed up there tomorrow morning and will probably be gone most of the week, I would imagine.
Thank you again for all your thoughts and prayers! ♥♥♥