My First Blog Post

Who would have thought my first blog post would be about my family? Not me, that’s for sure. There’s been a lot going on this weekend and it’s still going on as I type. Friday night around 11pm my dad was trying to go to bed, but couldn’t. He hollered for my mom and told her something was wrong. His breathing wasn’t good and he was shaking. She called for me and I came up from the basement to see what was going on. I went into the bedroom and saw him sitting on the side of the bed and he didn’t look good. I asked him if he felt nauseous, he said he didn’t know so I put the trash can in front of him. Then I asked him if he was hurting and he said no. I also asked him if his breathing was ok and that’s when he said no. That’s when we decided to call 911. Mom sat with him while I got dressed and vice versa. We wanted to be ready for the paramedics and to go to the hospital with him too. The paramedics were great, as were the nurses and doctors in the ER.

We were sitting in the ER for a good four hours and they admitted him and once he was settled in his room we had to come home and get some sleep, or at least try. After tossing and turning until about 11am, I got up and got ready to go back to the hospital to check on my dad. My mom had called the hospital and talked to my dad’s nurse and some other things. They told us he didn’t like the CPAP machine they gave him to use so we packed his up and took it to the hospital for him to use.

Sunday I decided to go to church, I needed to do something else other than sit around and wonder how he was doing. I also got to be at our Pastor’s son’s dedication, which was really nice to be a part of. Afterwards we went to their house for lunch and spent some time with everyone. My mom had a chance to stay home and get some things done. We were also able to clean up some things and do some grocery shopping. Mom has been taking time off while dealing with all of this.

This morning there was some drama with some of the family. They seemed to think that everything should have been put on hold and we should have been spending every waking moment at the hospital with my dad. Now, that’s not to say we didn’t go visit him, obviously, but my mom and I are the only ones running the house. We had to buy food, pay bills, clean, take care of our cats, and um hello, rest. So, my mom told it like it was and put them in their place real quick. We’ve been through this before and sitting at the hospital 24/7 does nothing except make us crazy with worry more so than being at home. At least at home we can get things done. And believe me, my dad always calls and my mom calls the hospital to talk to the nurses and my dad too. Plus, our house phone is always ringing with someone calling to check on us and him.

Anyway, the nurse had mentioned something about the possibility of him being sent home this morning and that freaked him out because he’s not in any shape to come home yet. The nurse also gave him some papers to read about Dilantin toxicity. He thought it was paperwork for him to sign to be discharged, but we quickly put that to rest. That’s when we found out his Dilantin levels are higher than normal and that’s what they think is causing his symptoms because all of his tests have come back negative or normal. His heart, lungs, brain and everything are ok. This was the only thing that came back as abnormal, so that’s the only thing they have to go on at this point. This evening when we went to visit him, he had the paper sitting on his table and after reading it, I agree because the symptoms he had are listed on the paper. The therapist said that over time the Dilantin will work its way out of his system and his symptoms will go away.

The rehab place he’s being transferred to is close to home, walking distance as a matter of fact. We’re hoping he’s not going to be there more than two or three weeks because it will cost a lot of money as his Medicare will only cover the first 20 days, then after that the co pay has to be paid out of pocket. Normally, the supplemental insurance would pick up after 20 days, but the rehab place we chose doesn’t take my dad’s supplemental insurance and that would cost us a lot of money. We took a tour of the place and it’s really nice, so we feel good about the place. There’s even a woman from our old church that has been there for years and she likes it there, so that makes us feel better too. Not sure what time tomorrow the transfer is going to happen but they are supposed to call and let us know so we can be there. My dad gets anxious and it always asking if we’re going to visit him. He’s always afraid that we’ll get tired of him or something.

I’m really hoping that this blog will focus more on my jewelry that on my dad to day events, but I know what’s going on in that department is going to affect my jewelry. I recently ordered a bunch of supplies from Fire Mountain Gems and when it gets here I’m going to be up to my butt in supplies and hopefully making lots for the craft fair I’m doing this November. Keep an eye out and I’ll post more as possible.