Aging

From dictionary.com:

stent (stnt)
n.

A device that is used to maintain a bodily orifice or cavity during skin grafting, or to immobilize a skin graft following placement.
A slender thread, rod, or catheter placed within the lumen of tubular structures, such as a blood vessel, to provide support during or after anastomosis.

Yesterday my 86 year-old grandfather had 4 stents inserted into his heart and surrounding arteries. He had been complaining of a tightness in his chest when he would walk up stairs, and when he went into the doctors office yesterday they checked him out and decided to put the stents in. About 15 years ago he had quadruple bypass surgery on his heart, and has had various problems and conditions with it since then. If he had not starting walking every day about 20 years ago, he probably would not be with us anymore. His condtition right now is good, it is not a serious surgery, but it still is something that concerns me. He has been a very important person in my life, someone who I look up to and someone who I hope I can live my life like. He grew up in the Great Depression when his father left them at age 12, and after that my grandpa had to provide for his family. He fought in the War, went to college, got married and started a family, and got a job working at the University Hospital at Missouri. He is a very strong person, and I know that he will weather this just fine.

Here's a pic of him eating cake at a band supper in his hometown from this summer: