Friday, January 08, 2016

The Week Started Off Scary But Ended With Good News And A Laugh

I’ve had one of those weeks … but I’ll tell you there is a happy ending — and not that kind of happy ending — so it’s all good.

Last Sunday we went to bed around 11PM. Carlos sleeps like a log — he slept through Hurricane Katrina … seriously — and I wake up at the sound of the heater coming on. So, around 1AM I hear a beep in the distance and wonder what it is … the answering machine.

But I didn’t hear the phone. I tumble from bed and walk into the office and there are two messages ... the first from an unknown number. I press play …
“Bob. It’s Dad. I’m in the hospital. Give me a call.”
WTF? Message 2:
“Bob, it’s Dave [my brother]. Dad just called. He’s in the hospital ER in Bellingham and trying to get hold of you.”
I call the hospital and they patch me through to the ER and they tell me my Dad has been transferred to a room and I need to call the front desk. Click.

WTF. I call; I get through to my Dad. He sounds bad; he was eating dinner and reached for a napkin and his hand didn’t work; he couldn’t control the movement in his left arm. So, he did what most people do, he got online and checked his symptoms, and the word ‘stroke’ came up. And that’s when he called 911 and was taken to the hospital.

He was in the hospital for about three days being tested and EKG’d and CT Scanned and MRI'd and it was discovered that he had the most minor kind of stroke due to Atrial fibrillation, or AFib.

All of his tests came back good, and he has regained nearly all the use of his hand and arm again — after just a couple of days — but now he’s being monitored for the AFib and will be checked out again in a month.

He has a heart monitor he wears for the month that is linked to the hospital and 911 so if anything happens while he’s being tested he can get help right away.

Dad’s a computer guy so I mentioned that he’s been synced with the hospital and when he showers and needs to remove the monitor, afterwards he needs to reboot. Dad laughed at that comparison, which means he’s so much better already.

He also called Donald [t]Rump as a**hole so I know he’s better.

I’ve been on the phone with him all week — he told me not to come out, though even though he’s better I think I should have gone but … hindsight — and last night he told me, and this is his sense of humor, that when he dies he wants to make sure I put a recent picture of him in the paper. He said he saw an obituary of  a man in his late 80s, and the picture used was one in which the man was wearing a WWII uniform!

We laughed and chatted and then I hung up, only to have Carlos tell me a few minutes later — and he hadn’t know what my Dad had said about ‘when I die’ — that when he dies he wants Bach played at his memorial.

I told him I’d already planned on playing “It’s Raining Men.”

Like I said, it was a happy ending to a weird week, so ya’ll go out and have a faboosh weekend.

12 comments:

  1. holy shitsnax! at least the story has a happy ending, and your dad is on the road to recovery. and he can LAUGH about it; a VERY GOOD sign!

    I had to sink $900 into my car today due to rusted suspension parts. AND I wondered on monday if I was gonna wind up in the ER with heart failure or a busted lung (it turned superfuckingcold here and my asthma was not liking it ONE LITTLE BIT).

    so far 2016 sux ass; can we have a reboot please? hey, if it's good enough for your dad...

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  2. Soooo glad to hear your Dad is on his road
    to recovery. Laughter is a wonderful help.
    And having a son like you and Carlos and your
    family is a great tonic. xoxoxox

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  3. Happy to hear that your dad is ok! He's lucky to have you and Carlos for support.

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  4. Glad dad is doing better. Glad he was smart enough to know the signs of something wrong. Most men ignore such stuff and thing "maybe it will go away".

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  5. Bob,

    I don't know you, but you've made me laugh. Often. In this world, sometimes that's enough. My thoughts go out to you and your dad. Blobby is right, give thanks your dad didn't ignore the signs, and thanks that he called you.

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  6. Thanks all.
    Dad's good, we're good, all good!

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  7. If Carlos can sleep through Hurricane Katrina, why would he want Wachet Auf played at his funeral?

    https://youtu.be/1lw_krZChaQ

    Glad to hear that your father received prompt and effective medical attention and appears to be on the road to recovery.

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  8. Close call - and scary, I should think. Pleased it turned the way that it did.

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  9. So glad things have turned out better than anticipated. My mother had the same exact thing in February and she recovered completely. In addition, they started treating her for the AFib and many other problems she had been having are better, as well. Your father is much more realistic, however, than my mother (well, except for going online before calling an ambulance). Instead of calling an ambulance and going to the hospital, my mother called a cab and went to the doctor.

    I'm happy your father continues to easily reboot.

    As for THAT kind of happy ending... Would it be so bad?

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  10. So glad to hear everything is alright!!!! Do they know what the cause was? Still, will keep all in thoughts here. And in times like this, it's always good to find a pinch of humor. Have a good one yourself tootes!

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  11. Perhaps Carlos wants Tears of Grief played at his funeral? Though he must know they would already have fallen. Humour often helps dispel thoughts of grief; I am glad your Dad is fine.

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  12. Whew! I'm glad your Papa came through that health scare with little complications.

    TH has AFib, your Papa needs to keep a food/beverage/tired/stress diary. Doing so helped TH manage his Afib with only a few incidents in the past few years. If TH is tired AND stressed AND dehydrated AND eats ice cream or sweets with a caffeine containing drink, he will drop right into AFib.

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