Morning everyone.....
Ok, so it’s been two weeks now since I’ve done a dad update. Many things to update on, the only thing that is the same is that he is still in the hospital.
The last ten days have been without a doubt the most stressful days of my life. And I’ve had many stressful days but nothing comes close to this....
Last Friday my mom called me crying. Yes, I thought my dad had left us. I was on my way to a supply house to pick up material. She told me that my dad Coded (which means his heart stopped beating).
They revived him and he was in ICU on a respirator. I immediately turned around and headed to my parents house to be with my mom.
By the time I arrived ten minutes later there was a puddle on the floor from her tears. She was a wreck, I did everything to calm her down.
The doctor told my mom that they needed to run a bunch of tests. He would call us when we could come and see him.
It wasn’t until after 3pm when the doctor called and said we could finally see him. They had him stabilized and in a room now.
With COVID-19 restrictions, only one person is allowed to visit at a time. There was no way I was letting my mom drive in her condition. So I drove her to the hospital. I told her I would come back in an hour to see him.
An hour later I had my daughter follow me over to the hospital to give my mom a ride home and stay with her.
When I got to the room the nurses were removing the respirator from my dad. He asked me what happened, he had no idea. I was afraid to tell him in fear of what would happen.
So instead I asked him what he remembered.
He said that the nurses helped him out of bed and into the chair for when the doctor came to visit. After the doctor left the nurses were helping him get into bed. That’s the last thing her remembered.
Then I told him
Dad your blood pressure got so low that your heart stopped. They revived you and that’s why you are in ICU now. He looked startled, then sad.
Since that morning they have done all sorts of tests on him. Numerous ultra sounds on many different parts of his abdomen area. Several x-rays, an MRI and a CAT scan as well as an EKG and echocardiogram.
They found tumors lining his utterers, (the tubes that run from your kidneys to your bladder). They did a biopsy on them which came back as cancer.
But the form of cancer is never found in them the doctor said. Which means that it is somewhere else in his organ system and has spread to them. Either way he is too weak for surgery of chemotherapy.
My father has been a three time cancer survivor and in total remission for over fifteen years now. So hearing the “C” word was a total punch in the face.
They started doing dialysis on him last Saturday to get some of the fluid out of his system. They tried several diuretics which did almost nothing for him. His kidneys are 90% shut down now.
His abdomen is still very distended, his left hand is swallow (it looks like he’s wearing a boxing glove). His left foot is also swollen.
He has had several days where the pain was so bad they gave him morphine. One of them being just yesterday.
I honestly don’t believe that he will make it through this week. But looking at him last Friday I didn’t think he was going to see Monday of last week.
I guess it’s up to him when he wants to call it quits.
He hasn’t been eating at all pretty much. Just Ensure and broth, the renal diet they have him on the food it gross and tasteless.
So a few days ago I asked him what he wanted to eat? I said anything you want I’m going to bring you, wether it’s something you want me to make or something you want me to buy.
The very first thing he asked for was a vanilla malted milkshake. He also asked for a cheeseburger with lettuce, tomato, onion, pickles, ketchup and mayo on a bun not roll.
He ate way more then I ever expected him to which was just over half of it. He did even better on the malted milkshake which he finished three quarters of.
Next was pizza and a Coke. Well, he only had four bites of pizza. But he loved the Coke. Said “It tastes so good”.
Then he asked me to make him shrimp scampi and bring him a Dr. Pepper with it. He did ok with that, eating four of the prawns. Once again he destroyed the Dr. Pepper.
Today his request is for my penne in vodka sauce, with a Stewart’s cream soda. I will be making that shortly for him.
There is NO guarantee for tomorrow, so make sure you make the most of each day
My father knows he’s never coming home, he has said it several times now. It very sad and is very hard to try and keep him positive.
This post was EXTREMELY difficult to write.
I need to change the subject now.
So along with #sublimesunday is #piratesunday.
This piece was traded to me by @summertooth awhile back. It is not only very #piratesunday, but is also my dads favorite color which is yellow.
So we will honor both #piratesunday and my dad with this piece.
It is a limited edition Monarch Precious Metals sugar skull pour. It comes with a stamped serial number, matching COA and in a very cool wooden box. Thanks again @summertooth for the trade.