My dad is in the hospital with pneumonia. Thank goodness my sister called him to say hello. He had been sick with a cold or flu, and told her he hadn't eaten in two weeks. He was having difficulty breathing and sounded confused, even delusional. My sister lives 9 hours away from him, so she called me (I'm 13 hours away), in a panic because she couldn't reach my other sister, who only lives 2 1/2 hours from Dad, to ask her to go check on him. I was able to contact Alesia, who dropped everything to drive up and visit my dad on Saturday. He had lost so much weight and was so confused and out of breath that she took him to the hospital emergency. They decided to admit him for testing, and to monitor his breathing. He's been subjected to every test imaginable, and more.
This is what we know so far. My dad has emphysema. It shouldn't be a suprise, since he is a lifelong smoker, and has had a bad cough for years. But he goes to the doctor regularly, and has never been told that before. My dad also has asbestosis. This is a big surprise. Apparently he was in contact with asbestos materials in the 25 years he worked at the winery. Both of these diseases are incurable, and result in difficulty breathing.
Dad also has a hard glassy sustance in the lymph nodes between his lungs. They don't know what it is. The possibilities mentioned are cancer, lymphoma, tuberculosis, and advance stage pneumonia. They will have to transfer him to a larger hospital. This one is too small to perform the testing procedures that will be necessary to determine what it is.
I need to go see him. But if it's only going to be a short hospital stay, it would be best to wait until he's home, so I can take a turn caring for him. Today they will do a preliminary test to determine where to send him for the testing. It's so hard to wait. It must be even harder for my sister Alesia, who left her kids home alone to come care for my dad, and brought only 1 change of clothes because she didn't know she would be staying so long. She can't really leave, because Dad is too confused to talk to the doctors about his condition and what's going to be happening.
Tuesday, October 11, 2005
Thursday, October 06, 2005
Bad News
Yesterday one of Clint's employess cut off his thumb. I can't stop thinking about it. I feel so horrible. I know it's not my fault, but I feel so...responsible. He was on our job, working for our company. I feel so badly for him. He's only about twenty three, and now the rest of his life will be altered.
They couldn't reattach it. Clint had to take the saw apart to get the thumb out, but the blade had damaged it too much for it to be useable. Clint was amazing. He handled the whole thing so well. While his other workers were still thinking the whole thing was a joke, Clint was doing everything he could. He determined that the thumb had been sucked up into the saw, cut the cord to the saw, grabbed the saw and Jason, and drove him to Kadlec. He kept his cool when another driver, angry that Clint had passed him illegallly, followed him on the freeway, passed him, and cut him off. He kept his cool at the hospital, where he turned Jason over to their personnel and then immediately started taking the saw apart so he could retrieve the thumb without damaging it. He kept his cool when the nurse took one look at the thumb and said "Oh that's no good; there's no point in putting it on ice." Clint insisted she put it on ice anyway until the orthopedic surgeon could make a determination. He even kept it together when the surgeon pulled him aside and examined the thumb with him in detail, showing him why it was unlikely that they would be able to reattach it.
Jason is recovering well. He's trying to adjust to the situation. He's thinking about things he loves to do that will be more difficult, like motorcyling. The only small mercy is that it was his left thumb. He's right handed.
We need to get out of this business.
They couldn't reattach it. Clint had to take the saw apart to get the thumb out, but the blade had damaged it too much for it to be useable. Clint was amazing. He handled the whole thing so well. While his other workers were still thinking the whole thing was a joke, Clint was doing everything he could. He determined that the thumb had been sucked up into the saw, cut the cord to the saw, grabbed the saw and Jason, and drove him to Kadlec. He kept his cool when another driver, angry that Clint had passed him illegallly, followed him on the freeway, passed him, and cut him off. He kept his cool at the hospital, where he turned Jason over to their personnel and then immediately started taking the saw apart so he could retrieve the thumb without damaging it. He kept his cool when the nurse took one look at the thumb and said "Oh that's no good; there's no point in putting it on ice." Clint insisted she put it on ice anyway until the orthopedic surgeon could make a determination. He even kept it together when the surgeon pulled him aside and examined the thumb with him in detail, showing him why it was unlikely that they would be able to reattach it.
Jason is recovering well. He's trying to adjust to the situation. He's thinking about things he loves to do that will be more difficult, like motorcyling. The only small mercy is that it was his left thumb. He's right handed.
We need to get out of this business.
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