Update on my Dad

It's been a rough couple of days, my friends. The toughest I've ever been through. In my last post, I mentioned that my dad had emergency surgery and was going into rehabilitation. The surgery he had was for a subdural hemotoma, which meant that his skull was full of blood and fluid causing his brain to be turned and pressed against the side of his skull with such pressure he was temporarily losing some abilities like speech, vision and most movements. The surgery relieved the pressure and he began to wake up and become more aware of his surroundings after a few days. The doctors told us that in older people (he is 83), that as the brain shrinks that the veins and capillaries become tightly stretched between the brain and skull and with some types of movements, they can begin to leak or completely break, causing the problem my dad had. Plus, the likelihood of recurrence was great.

And it did. Two days ago, my dad began to slip into a coma and was rushed from the rehab center back to the hospital ICU during the early hours of this morning. By the time my mother, brother, sister and I arrived at the hospital, the doctors had done another CT scan and once again the skull was full and the brain under much pressure and stress.

With much tears and prayers, and considering the fact he already is dealing with multiple myeloma, we chose to not put my dad through another surgery and to leave him in God's hands for what time he has left with us, which should be just a few weeks or months. He would not have the life of quality and activity which he thrived on and would be way too miserable (and cranky with us) for allowing this to happen. His quality life will now be with God and in His Heavenly home with his parents and sister who have gone before.

Tomorrow we will begin looking into a couple specific hospices which are close to home so that Mom will not be able to go back and forth without much hassle.

I wish the news were better. As the oldest son, I have had a hard day of reflection of things past and things yet to come. My nature is to be strong and not let the emotions show so that I can help the rest of the family in their need. I have always seen that as my role as the oldest child, but that role is being shaken by the events of today and of days to come.

My family will be fine. We are sorry for what has transpired and for what appears to be an inevitable outcome, but we also believe that God can perform miracles in His time and for His purposes. We have the Hope that even though we do not understand that 'the peace of God will surpass all human understanding".

As I can, I'll keep things updated on here about my dad, but I'll still be posting some lighter fare along. But, for now, I thank you in advance for your prayers, your thoughts of good will, whatever your faith system allows.

Jimmy