Thursday, September 03, 2009

John Tanner: Damn Good Dawg

My father, John Andrew Tanner is a damn good husband, damn good father, damn good grandfather, damn good friend, and a Damn Good Dawg! And he will be able to enjoy this football season thanks to damn good medical care at St. Luke's Hospital in Jacksonville. Last Friday, he did a nuclear stress test to check for arterial blockages. Yesterday, the cardiologist did a heart catheterization and placed stents in two arteries. Thanks to this amazing medical innovation, open-heart bypass surgery wasn't needed. My dad is feeling quite well and will be released from the hospital today. Just amazing. The doctor said he would have had a heart attack eventually because of the blockages. We are thankful that he caught the problem when he did and especially before football season. This may not be the year to watch our Dawgs with a heart problem.

(John Tanner - pictured top left - with his extended family during the 2008 Annual Turkey Bowl in the 9th Fairway at Douglas Golf and Country Club.)

In the recovery room, his first comment to my brother and me was that we are doing a stress test in the next few weeks. It was not a suggestion and did not sound negotiable. Guess who will be doing stress tests soon?

(My dad and me on a Gulfstream fishing trip on the Hunker Down with a nice Wahoo.)

Throughout the afternoon, while he was recovering, he kept asking about Dawg news from around the blogosphere as I was trying to keep abreast via my Blackberry. We followed the whole Rotowire Zac Robinson leg injury mystery via the interwebs and kept up with Jeff Owens and Mike Moore via Twitter. By the way, did you know you can get fried oreos in Athens? Talk about arterial blockages!

Early this morning I called my dad to check on him. He told me he felt really good and that he must be fine because he was feeling a little "ornery." I didn't hear him perfectly so I asked if he was feeling "horny" or "ornery." He said "Both!" Damn Good Dawg, indeed!

On this trip, my dad and I both landed our first sailfish, which according to fishing tradition meant...

... that we had to do this...


Thanks for all that you have done and continue to do for us Paw Paw. We love you and look forward to many more seasons of following the Dawgs and great fishing.

GATA!

1 comment:

Jolaine said...

I loved reading your blog! I am a fellow dawg and sorority sister of your Mom, Cleary. When we were at Georgia a hundred years ago, we all swooned over John and thought that he and Cleary were the perfect couple. He should have been in GQ and she in Glamour, both clean cut and fresh, and of course great looking. I have had the pleasure of getting back up with her at several sorority weekends and will see her again at a big bash at Jeckyl next month. I have heard so much about the family and want you to know that when she forwarded your blog to me I had tell you how glad I am that your dad is okay. You have written such a beautiful and fun tribute to him. Now you and your brother get to the doctor (as if you had a choice) to make sure all the Tanner guys are doing well. Jolaine (Wood) Lanier, Greensboro, NC