This has been a long week. At times, it feels like a single day that doesn’t end.
Last Sunday evening, while Cindy and I were out, my mom called and said my dad was sick and that I had to come over right away. We pulled up just seconds after the fire department and an ambulance arrived. Things were not good. I’ll give you the shortest version possible because, honestly, I’m just now getting to the point that I can function…more or less.
For years, my dad has been battling cancer. A couple of weeks ago, he was back in the hospital again for four rounds of chemotherapy and a few bags of blood platelets. It looked dicey that week, but he managed to pull through and it looked like everything was going to be okay.
The night before, Saturday, I talked to my dad around 9 PM. It wasn’t a long conversation; just an update on how he was doing. He had driven himself to the store earlier that day, and picked up a few movies. He talked about the actors and some of their other films that he liked or disliked. He sounded like he was feeling good and was well on his way to recovering.
The next morning he woke up with a headache and blurry vision. He couldn’t remember anybody’s name, except for Austin, my nephew. He was having increased difficultly speaking. His sentences would start out okay, but finish in gibberish. A CAT scan showed some sort of head trauma, and 12 hours later he was being moved to a another hospital for surgery. They removed a small mass (about the size of a small fist, the doctor said) from the left side of his brain.
Since then, he has been in the ICU. He’s on a ventilator and has opened his eyes maybe half a dozen times. A few times on Tuesday, he managed to squeeze the hand of whoever was holding his at the time.
His vital signs are good, and the doctors say that he’s recovering faster than they expected. However, they think he should have regained consciousness by now. For us, we’re encouraged by any positive development each day.
Today, after four days of unconsciousness, he opened his eyes again, just slightly and just for a few seconds. It doesn’t seem like much, but we’ll take it.
I’ll keep you all updated, and start posting more about other things because I could use the distraction.
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Chris–my heart is with you. I could say a bunch of rambling, “everything will be okay” stuff but instead I’ll pray for him. I love you guys.
We love you.
oh my. What a rough time for you and your family. My thoughts are with you and your dad. I hope he gets better soon.
Jesus, Chris. We’re thinking of you and your family.
Chris, I am sorry to hear about your dad. I hope your dad continues to make a steady and quick recovery. You are in my thoughts and prayers.
I’m so sorry. We’ll be thinking of you.
Hope things are going better.
*mwah*
Chris, are you okay? When you feel up to it, just write a paragraph telling us the news.
I’m thinking about you, friend.
tiffany
Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers. I’ve been meaning to give updates, but lately the days just slip from one to another without distinction.
My dad’s recovery is slower than any of us would like, but he has shown great progress in the last two days. I’ll write more on this later in a separate post.
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