Monday, February 02, 2015

Wow....what a week

I made my last post.  I was on top of it.  I was changing my habits little by little and things were looking up.  And then.  Seriously, isn't there always a 'but then.."

I knew that my father had been having headaches and that his condition was worsening.  I knew that on Thursday (the day of my post) that he had a doctors appointment.   I figured that he was having migraines again (he had them when I was younger) or that it was something else (he had shingles once and had horrible headaches from that).  So I wasn't concerned.  My worry ratcheted up a notch when my mom let me know that they were taking him for an immediate Cat scan.   My worry exploded into absolute fear when my mom called shortly after the Cat scan to tell me that the doctor had sent the immediately to the ER.  Dad had a subdural hematoma....most likely resulting from a fall on some ice back in November (yes, November....my dad is a very lucky blessed man) The pressure of the accumulated blood was causing the headaches and creating the disorientation and other symptoms.   We all met at the hospital and waited.  Surgery can correct the problem (remove/drain the excess blood thereby relieving the pressure) .  There was a glitch...dad has been on blood thinners ever since he had a stent put in for his heart issues.  BIG issue.    To do surgery while someone is on blood thinners is inviting more bleeding...the very thing we were trying to correct.  Decisions decisions (for the doctors...we were at their mercy).  Dad was admitted to the hospital where they watched him closely and gave him meds to help with the swelling and the pain and meds to avoid badness from happening (anti seizure meds).   It was a waiting game.  It was riskier to do the surgery versus wait under the blood thinners had worked out of his system.  Dad was a bit disoriented and loopy at times (pressure on the brain does that) ..and while it was HORRIBLE to see, it was funny.  We passed the week mark and the doctors decided the risks had been significantly lowered and decided to operate.    The surgery went well and we all breathed a sigh of relief.  He is now home and while he looks like he was in a horrible fight (and lost) because of his swollen head and the black and blue eyes and cheek, he is on the mend.   We are continuing to pray as there is a chance of further bleeding and that could necessitate another surgery (without the long wait this time as he is off his blood thinners....minimally they like to wait a week....optimally two weeks).

Sooooooo  lets just say that MaryFran's eating was....well.......off the hook!   Fast food, donuts, late night eating, coming home exhausted late at night and having a dinner of oreos!   Why yes, I did say oreos.  (my mom's wonderful chocolate icing was a really good dinner and snack also!)   Today was the first day that I drank water. The rest of the time it was pepsi, or dr. pepper.   Hey, at least it was Diet drinks!

I'm reigning it back in. I didn't go to zumba tonight.  I ended up falling ill on Sunday. Ok, not really falling ill that was so melodramatic and I couldn't resist.  The exhaustion from the week and a half in the hospital was not the cause of my headaches and eventual sore throat.  My sinus' were draining and really did a number on my head and I just kinda crashed.  I was still sluggish this morning and decided to not go.....figuring that not over extending myself was a wise choice for today.

Soooooo, my world has YET to settle down.   My life has YET to be calm.   My life is still falling apart....and I'm starting to wonder if I should put a sign around my neck that says "come near me at your own risk!"

Meanwhile, the cats are doing ok.    Holding their own.  :-)