-- forwarded message, please reply to sender and MMD --

 [ MMDer John Phillips, of Hobart, Tasmania, Australia, suffered a
 [ major heart attack on 23 November 2003.  I asked his family to send
 [ news of his progress when they felt it appropriate; the message
 [ following comes from John's daughter, Alison.  Des and Jill Miller,
 [ of Victoria, Australia, also can relay messages of cheer; they hope
 [ to visit John and his wife, Beryl, next month in Tassie.
 [
 [ John has regularly contributed MMD articles since 1996, indexed
 [ at http://mmd.foxtail.com/Archives/Authors/Aut332.html  His photo
 [ feature articles include "Piano Roll Repair Table", indexed at
 [ http://mmd.foxtail.com/Pictures
 [
 [ -- Robbie

Dear friends of John,  Well it's now just over four weeks since Dad's
heart attack.  As my brother, Chris, hasn't sent an update since a few
weeks ago it must be time to do so now.

So just to recap, Dad had a massive heart attack and much to the
doctors surprise and our huge relief he survived.  He did, however,
have to spend about two and a half weeks in ICU.  Most of this time he
was on life support (ventilator).  While this was a huge shock and of
concern to all of you, we were terrified.  And this last month has been
very trying and exhausting for us all, which was why we had previously
asked people to refrain from calling.

Dad is better than at that last update.  He came out of ICU almost two
weeks ago but he very nearly ended up back in there within an hour of
getting back to the coronary care ward.  Luckily he has managed to
remain out of there (and off the ventilator).  However he has had
reasonably regular setbacks which have indicated that his mitral valve
has been fairly seriously damaged and will most likely need to be
replaced.  As the risk of complications from anaesthetics and surgery
is significantly higher within six weeks of a heart attack, the
cardiologist is hoping to keep Dad stable enough for the next few weeks
or so, so that the surgery can be delayed 'til he's outside of that
higher danger period.

So while he is greatly improved from two weeks ago he still has a long
way to go.  However he is starting to get some visitors which is great
and for the locals we would just ask you to keep in mind that it is
best to phone Mum or the hospital (Hobart Private) before visiting, to
check how he is that day.  Some days are better than others.  Also
_please_ don't stay for too long as he will tire out -- probably before
he'd be so rude as to say something!

We know that most of you have been very concerned and thinking about
him, and us, and thank you all for that.  And keep hoping, praying,
that he keeps on improving just that tiny bit each day.

Feel free to email me -- I'll try to send updates a little more
regularly if I can.

Cheers,
Alison Phillips
aphillip5@yahoo.com.au.geentroep [delete ".geentroep" to reply]