I went to my parents' house two weekends ago. I was planning on going anyway, to celebrate my birthday and their anniversary. The visit took on more urgency a few days before I was planning to go, as my father spent their anniversary and the next 2 days in the hospital.
Doctors gave it some Latin name I don't remember but in layman's terms he has an irregular heartbeat. He's on medication for it now. He was so severely dizzy the day he went into the hospital that he couldn't even stand. And the blood pressure medicine he was on was making things worse instead of better. So off they went to the emergency room.
My sister and brother-in-law swung by Friday to pick us up -- since I was going for more than a there-and-back-the-next-day visit, the cat had to come with me. Needs her meds for her kidney thing daily. We got to Mom and Dad's place around 11:30. Dad was home by that point. Looked fine--a little tired maybe, but glad to be home.
Apparently people live with this condition for a long time. Burt, an 80+ man who works with my Mom and Dad, has had an irregular heartbeat for 30 years. It doesn't seem to have slowed him down any.
So anyway, after assuring ourselves that Dad was okay now, we relaxed and enjoyed the weekend. Well, my brother-in-law not so much. He had what later turned out to be poison oak all over him. Even in his eye (fun!). We left earlier than planned on Sunday so he could get to a doctor or a hospital back at home to see what was up.
But Saturday was a nice relaxing day. Mom drove us out to a field that was full of wildflowers, and we took pictures. Here's one of my favorites:
And then we went to town to a shop called Olga's where we all bought some fancy yarn. I know, I don't need any more yarn! But I have some anyway, along with plans for its use.
Since then, I've been working, sleeping, weeding, and trying to keep up with my CSA shares. I just got more stuff yesterday:
2 comments:
Wow.
My dad has suffered from atrial fibrillation (a-fib) for a couple years now. It's true. You CAN enjoy a long life with a-fib.
For my dad, they tried correcting ti with a round of cardioversion (paddles) and they decided he needed a pacemaker. They put that in a bit over a year ago.
He's been doing well until a recent stress test revealed that his heart rhythm was messed up. They decided he needs a DIFFERENT pacemaker, so they're swapping out his current with a new one on Monday.
I guess this is where our parents get us back for all the times WE stressed THEM out while growing up.
I suppose. You know what would help, though? If they would maybe use the cell phones that they swear are "just for emergencies" to tell my sister and me how Dad is. I mean, seriously. How much more of an emergency does it need to be? Missing a limb? Hair on fire? Big hole where the house used to be? They act like AT&T rents them 2 paperweights for $10 apiece monthly.
Argh.
And again I say, argh.
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