Dad In The Hospital
Posted by Walt Snider | Posted in Family | Posted on 08-04-2010
Tags: dad, hospital
0
Amidst trying to take care of my car accident, I learned Tuesday that my father was in intensive care at a local hospital. My week has been very, very physically and emotionally taxing.
My dad had a hernia and a perforation in his stomach… for 4 days before he got to a hospital. His coworkers called an ambulance after his repeated complaints of pain.
My dad’s roommate is a very… interesting person. She’s very controlling and won’t allow me over. I can’t exactly hang out with him all the time where he works, so the time I spend with him is very limited. He doesn’t have a phone, so I can’t call him either… I basically see him on average once a month.
When I got a call from his roommate Tuesday (2 days prior as I write this), I was on the way to taking care of my injuries from the accident and taking care of my business taxes. Apparently, I didn’t have enough going on in my life, eh?
Sunday 4/4, he arrived in the hospital. Things did NOT look good.
Monday 4/5, “he was touch and go all day long.” Normally the ICU nurses have 2-3 patients at a time depending on the needs of each. Dad had a dedicated nurse all day long. This is how bad he was.
Tuesday 4/6 I found out he was in the hospital and went to see him. Know what it’s like to see the man that was cool and the best of the best in your eyes 25 years prior now sedated with tubes sticking out all over his face? A reality check. I spent 2 hours talking to a sedated man until I couldn’t bare it any more. I updated my mom, grandma, his boss, mutual friends out of state and facebook.
Wednesday 4/7 I walk in and am greeted by the nurse’s smile, “Only good news!” she exclaims. He’s stabilizing. His blood pressure is normal. His heartbeat is regular. 40+ years of booze is cleaned out of his system now. He’s still on a ventilator, but I guess 49 years of cigarettes will do that to a guy in his early 60s. I stay 2 hours. My mom, his ex, is expected to drop in later. I update his boss, my mom, grandma and his boss. Boss is a great guy. I’m assured dad has a job waiting for him. Boss is a great guy. Get a call from boss later in the day. Why’s my mom signing papers to pull the plug he asks. I tell him that there’s only one person in the world that has the legal authority to authorize such an action. Me. He’s not married and I’m his only child. He has no living parents or other relatives. I’m all he’s got. Therefore, if such a decision were to be made, it’d end with me… this is not something even close to consideration. I reassure the boss and talk to mom over facebook chat. The nurse was showing mom his charts…. seriously. She just can’t stand others caring about Dad.
Thursday 4/8 I spend an hour with Dad. The new nurse isn’t exactly what I’d call awesome. To her, Dad is just the patient in room 17, not a person. She tells me she’s going to dial back his sedation so I can talk to him. I tell her no, let him rest. She tells me she’s doing it anyway. She converts the bed so he’s sitting up more instead of laying down. She shakes him a bit, pats him on the shoulder quite hard and yells in to his ear, “Bill wake up, your son’s here.” My dad’s name is not Bill. It’s not even close. I don’t like this woman. She goes about running around him and looking busy in front of me. I’m not impressed. 30 minutes later, Dad opens his eyes for the first time in days. I know this man very well. He’s confused. He spots me right away and won’t look away. I smile and start walking over to him. He tracks my steps and turns his head to spot me. He tries to talk but can’t. I guess tubes stuck down your throat can hinder your ability to speak. I tell him that he’s OK. He’s in a hospital and he’s being taken care of. He’s safe and can relax. I’m here. He looks down at his nose as best he can. He tries to lift his hand. I tell him that he’s got tubes in him and he needs to leave them alone so they can help him heal. He looks at me again and closes his eyes. He’s out again. I continue talking to him. Just like I’ve been doing the past 2 days. I have to go do some stuff like talking to my doctor about my accident and getting a rental car while my Scion is getting fixed. This is so emotionally exhausting. I hate being a grownup. I want to have my Mountain Master toy truck and jets and aircraft carrier and park them on his head while they’re trying to refuel. Not watch this great man drift back into unconsciousness. I bid the nurse a good day. I call Dad’s boss, mom, grandma. My friends have nice thing to say on facebook. It makes me happy. I get a call from Dad’s boss. Dad’s roommate called him again. She needs his paycheck cashed. She’s drunk. Boss doesn’t know what to do. Roommate tells him Dad was moved out of the room and taken off ventilator, then returned back to room and reattached to ventilator. I call hospital and speak to my favorite nurse. He’s not moved since I left. I call boss back. Boss is calm now. Boss doesn’t like Dad’s roommate now. Welcome to my world. I need a break and need to heal my own body up. I’m calling tomorrow, saving myself the trip. Will be dreaming of you, Dad, hopefully. Hopefully it’ll be the one where you took me to Miami Metrozoo. That was a great day. You bought me ice cream and a dinosaur wax figure. A great day.
He was stable and seemingly improving the rest of the week. I’m getting happy and hopeful.
Wednesday 4/14 his temperature shot up to 105 and they’re saying he needs emergency surgery, he may not see tomorrow. This has been a bad day.
Fast forward to July…
Dad had a ton of ups and downs in the hospital and was eventually released under his own recognizance. Despite asking me to call him every day, now he’s out and I haven’t heard word one from him. Such is life. I hope he’s well and has learned to stop his bad habits or end up right back in the hospital or worse. Good luck, Dad.

