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Yesterday afternoon I got an email from my dad, who live sin California (I'm in Seattle). He's going in for a major operation, a lesion on his lung. Open lung surgery. It's apparently very risky.
My dad is such a tough guy, I didn't even bat an eye at first. But last night I suddenly remember that he's almost 70, and he's not the superman I remember from when I was a little kid anymore. And now I'm worried and fretting.
So help me out. Share a story about a loved one or family member who faced a major challenge and came out on top. It'll give me hope while I wait to find out how the surgery went.
Yesterday afternoon I got an email from my dad, who live sin California (I'm in Seattle). He's going in for a major operation, a lesion on his lung. Open lung surgery. It's apparently very risky.
My dad is such a tough guy, I didn't even bat an eye at first. But last night I suddenly remember that he's almost 70, and he's not the superman I remember from when I was a little kid anymore. And now I'm worried and fretting.
So help me out. Share a story about a loved one or family member who faced a major challenge and came out on top. It'll give me hope while I wait to find out how the surgery went.
He's going to be fine. :-)
My father turns 80 in two days. Last year he fell in the shower getting ready to come home on the train from Florida to Virginia. He hurt, but didn't think anything of it. He visited me a few days later, and I noticed him breathing heavy walking up a small hill from my kids bus stop. He said he had rib pain. I asked to look (I'm a tech in an ER) and saw a massive amount of bruising. He was tender on that side, so I made him (yes, he balked initially) go to the ER.
Long story short, he had a total of 4 rib fractures, and ended up with a pleural effusion (fluid build-up in pleural sack that pushes lungs so they can't get oxygenated) that needed drained a few times over the next week. If not treated, it can be very dangerous. It took some time, but he healed wonderfully, and thanks me to this day for smacking him around a bit and letting him have it for ignoring it all. I love my dad, but he can be a stubborn old bastard!
Plus, modern surgical techniques are less invasive and require less healing time.
So, take a deep breath, think of some good times you've had with your father, and dwell on that for a while. And be there for him as much as you can. Even if you aren't in the medical field, you can do as much if not more than a doctor or nurse ever could. Hang in there! And I'll throw in a little prayer for good measure!
RPG Superstar 2009 Top 8
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My grampa had surgery for cancer about five times. A few weeks after the fourth time, he flipped his car off a bridge and swam to shore. At his funeral, the eulogy consisted of a speech he had given earlier that year about all the times he had been told he had a week to live, starting with when he was 15 (not due to cancer) and continuing to his last face off with cancer. He successfully fended off cancer for thirteen years.
The story may not seem like it has a happy ending, but sometimes tough guys can give the big C a real run for its money. I grew up knowing gramps may have been a quiet pacifist, but inside he was a lion who loved life.
My great aunt Dorothy is 98 years old. She recently broke her hip and we were braced for the worst. But she recovered in record time to continue vexing the nurses and orderlies at the home. She's tried to escape a few times now and despite (what I feel to be) a lot of neglect on the part of the night staff and a serious case of hostile senility she's as healthy (physically) as a person her age could possibly be.
If only she remembered who we were.
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June this year my dad (who is 70) had open heart surgery and had the middle valve of his heart replaced. It worked like a charm...he is still up and around and running his own business. He also has the big C and is doing some lovely experimental treatment for it....all seems well. Modern medicne is amazing.