The last two weeks have been a roller coast ride so before officially closing the books on 2008, here's a short recap.

After I was discharged from the hospital, I was given some major horse pills and told to take it easy. What they forgot to say is that the medication would make me nauseous and dizzy, which again made souvenier shopping a bit challenging. You see, after being discharged we had less than a week to get to Finland where my dad was going through open heart surgery for his mitral valve. The relatives ended up getting shorted on the souveniers and christmas presents but we did make it to Helsinki just in time for the operation. A special thanks to spandex pants and a direct Shanghai-Helsinki flight to make my own post-op flight bearable.

My dad's operation went well but his recovery was slower than expected. We were secretly hoping he would make it home for Christmas but because of more complications that emerged, we ended up shuttling between home and the hospital for the full week. Kids didn't get to open their presents until 8.30pm on Christmas Eve but they were really good sports about it. By the time it was time for us to return to Shanghai, my dad was still in the hospital hooked to a lung draining machine and not making progress as expected.

As we boarded the plane back to China, we got a surprise upgrade to business class and possibly the best ten hour flight back to anywhere. We truly enjoyed the personal TVs and seats that declined to a full sleeping position. Feeling upbeat and rested after landing, I received a short text message from my mom that my dad had been taken into emergency surgery to remove fluid that was accumulating in his heart chambers. They ended up draining four cups or 1 liter of fluid from his heart. I have no idea how all that fluid fit inside his chambers and I'm surprised that it had not ended up in a stroke as his condition worsened.

After another two days at the intensive care, he has now been moved back to the regular ward and seems to be making progress in the right direction. The lung drain has been moved but he still has tubes going into his heart to make sure the chambers stay clear. He is moving around assisted and has been able to finish a couple of soft meals on his own.

I had another CT scan two days ago to make sure all is well (or were they looking for the pair of scissors they are missing?) so I think both my dad and I are on the right path. And while the Vasarainen's are a bit of a medical mess this month, I think we are ready to close the year on a high note and look forward to a less eventul yet an exciting 2009.