A Week To Remember
As the title states, it has been a very memorable last 7 days. A week ago, today, my 34 year old son, Jonathan drove himself to the emerg at our local hospital (a place with which I share a long and storied association). He was quickly diagnosed with pulmonary embolism. (Blood clots on the lungs.) He's being treated fairly aggressively, and the prognosis is good, but, it was a scare. He'll see a specialist soon. Then on Friday, my Father-in-Law was taken to emerg in St. Catherines, where they live with weakness, and shortness of breath. He has a heart condition, which he reveals little about. In fact, it appears he has been hiding the severity of his symptoms from everyone, for whatever reason. My Mother-in-Law, has her own health issues, multiple strokes, Type 1 diabetes, and very limited mobility. He had been told-apparently- that he needed stints in his heart, so we thought that might be the issue. We live 3 hours away, as does my wife's youngest brother. Her middle brother lives in the Middle East, so everyone's response time is inhibited. The brother who lives here in St. Thomas, drove to see his dad, immediately. He too, has Type 1 diabetes, so he needs to be careful driving long distances by himself, especially under stress. He was going to stay the night, but, was told he wasn't needed and that he should go home. His dad was actually being released as he was arriving at the hospital. Long story short, Bill, my Father-in-Law, had extremely low hemoglobin levels from some type of internal bleeding. So, he was given a blood transfusion, and felt better immediately. Of course, now he thinks he's ok, and has given up pursuing the stints with a heart specialist. He says he is following up, which to him, means not taking the heart medicine anymore!!! Then, after being told that my wife and I were going to drive to see him on Saturday, and check on my Mother-in-Law, he called us and told us not to come, he didn't need us, he was ok, and that we should come down some time when we were really needed. Oy. Well, my wife is just as stubborn as her dad, and she told him we were coming anyway. So, we did. The M-i-L had slurred speech when we got there, and was confused. (A condition that has been getting worse since her first stroke.) Now, come to find out, she may have been experiencing TIAs for a while now, and that may have been one. SHEESH!!! Then, today, my M-i-L fell down, couldn't get up, and my F-i-L couldn't get her up, so he called for an ambulance. Now, we're all thinking assisted living, which means all that has to be done in spits and spurts, by people who don't live near by. A lot of things to consider, and to complicate matters, my F-i-L can be very obdurate (to be kind), and has become even more so the last couple years, and not in a very attractive way. The circle of life. On Monday, I taught the grades 5-8 Athletic Program kids at my old school, the first of two units on photography. In my old classroom, no less. That was fun. On Thursday, I'll be taking part in the school's presentation on The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, where I play Father Christmas. AKA, the old fat guy. Ho, ho, ho, indeed. I'm really hoping that my wife's family situation works out as smoothly as things did with my sisters, when we took care of my parent's last years. On the positive side, my foot is hurting way less, and I've been working some long days. Just happened overnight. Weird.
A Week To Remember
As the title states, it has been a very memorable last 7 days. A week ago, today, my 34 year old son, Jonathan drove himself to the emerg at our local hospital (a place with which I share a long and storied association). He was quickly diagnosed with pulmonary embolism. (Blood clots on the lungs.) He's being treated fairly aggressively, and the prognosis is good, but, it was a scare. He'll see a specialist soon. Then on Friday, my Father-in-Law was taken to emerg in St. Catherines, where they live with weakness, and shortness of breath. He has a heart condition, which he reveals little about. In fact, it appears he has been hiding the severity of his symptoms from everyone, for whatever reason. My Mother-in-Law, has her own health issues, multiple strokes, Type 1 diabetes, and very limited mobility. He had been told-apparently- that he needed stints in his heart, so we thought that might be the issue. We live 3 hours away, as does my wife's youngest brother. Her middle brother lives in the Middle East, so everyone's response time is inhibited. The brother who lives here in St. Thomas, drove to see his dad, immediately. He too, has Type 1 diabetes, so he needs to be careful driving long distances by himself, especially under stress. He was going to stay the night, but, was told he wasn't needed and that he should go home. His dad was actually being released as he was arriving at the hospital. Long story short, Bill, my Father-in-Law, had extremely low hemoglobin levels from some type of internal bleeding. So, he was given a blood transfusion, and felt better immediately. Of course, now he thinks he's ok, and has given up pursuing the stints with a heart specialist. He says he is following up, which to him, means not taking the heart medicine anymore!!! Then, after being told that my wife and I were going to drive to see him on Saturday, and check on my Mother-in-Law, he called us and told us not to come, he didn't need us, he was ok, and that we should come down some time when we were really needed. Oy. Well, my wife is just as stubborn as her dad, and she told him we were coming anyway. So, we did. The M-i-L had slurred speech when we got there, and was confused. (A condition that has been getting worse since her first stroke.) Now, come to find out, she may have been experiencing TIAs for a while now, and that may have been one. SHEESH!!! Then, today, my M-i-L fell down, couldn't get up, and my F-i-L couldn't get her up, so he called for an ambulance. Now, we're all thinking assisted living, which means all that has to be done in spits and spurts, by people who don't live near by. A lot of things to consider, and to complicate matters, my F-i-L can be very obdurate (to be kind), and has become even more so the last couple years, and not in a very attractive way. The circle of life. On Monday, I taught the grades 5-8 Athletic Program kids at my old school, the first of two units on photography. In my old classroom, no less. That was fun. On Thursday, I'll be taking part in the school's presentation on The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, where I play Father Christmas. AKA, the old fat guy. Ho, ho, ho, indeed. I'm really hoping that my wife's family situation works out as smoothly as things did with my sisters, when we took care of my parent's last years. On the positive side, my foot is hurting way less, and I've been working some long days. Just happened overnight. Weird.