My Father's Health

This morning my father had a TIA (Transient Ischemic Attack) also known as a "mini-stroke" or "warning stroke". I was not there but this is what my mother relayed to me. He had arisen early to go to his church to help cook breakfast. When he got back he went to get the newspaper and came back in the house. He was slurring his speech and my mother could not really understand what he was saying. My sister-in-law was there too and she had difficulty understanding my father as well. My mother had called me to tell me that my nephew wanted to see Lolo so they could play. I loaded up Lolo in the car and drove to the parents. When I got there Mom was pulling out of the garage in dad's car. She stopped and rolled down the window and told my dad (twice in a very mean tone of voice) to stick out his tongue. When he did it went to one side which is a sign of a stroke. I told her to get him to the hospital immediately.

She called me on the way and asked me my opinion of which hospital they should go to. We have two hospitals in the county in short driving distance. I instructed her to go to what I felt was the better of the two. I made sure Lolo was cool staying with the sis-in-law and went to the hospital. The already had Dad in a room in the Emergency Department. The doctor talked to us very clearly, personably and he took his time. This was much, much better than the last experience I had in a ED.

Dad's signs improved and his speech got much better and when he stuck out his tongue it no longer wagged to one side. They took him for a CT scan and brought him back quickly. A nurse told us that the CT scan was normal and that there were no anomalies. So we sat there and waited. I waited for probably another 45 minutes and decided that they would probably release him and the parents were both telling me to get back to the family. So I left and headed to Lowe's to buy the shit to paint Adrienne's room including a $100 chandelier that looked like it had purple crystals on it but looked pink in Adrienne's room. So now I get to take that back sometime.

Well they decided to keep Dad for 48 hours for observation since a TIA can be a warning sign for further stoke.

It is kind of torturous to think about but one day my father will die. Today made me really think about that. How will I handle it? I guess I am more afraid that my mother would pass away first because my father really cannot seem to be able to take care of himself. It isn't something that I really like to think about but nevertheless, I think i am rather mentally prepared for when it does happen.

I love my father and he was a very good father to me and to my brother- not perfect because no one is, but he was very good to us- even when I wanted to fight him for making me come home from a party when I was 16 or 17 years old. He was always there, he always provided for us, and he put up with my mother belittling him continually and treating him like a piece of shit while at the same time taking very good care of him physically.

Blowing off steam

Business sucks.

Adrienne's finger is healing very well. We went to the orthopedic surgeon last week and they took the stitches out which was an excruciating happening for Adrienne and both me and the wife. The orthopaedic surgeon questioned why the emergency department doctor did not use dissolvable stitches. He did tie one or two stitches using the dissolvable type but the other four he used regular stitches and poor Adrienne didn't understand the reason they had to come out. The orthopaedic surgeon said that the emergency department doctor should have to take out the stitches.

Atticus has been to the doctor last week with an ear infection. He still has a tube in his left ear and there was a bunch of wax and nasty stuff that was blocking the tube from doing its job. The family doctor removed that and put him on an antibiotic and he is fine.

I went to the doctor the week before last with a cough and they put me on Azithromycin which did nothing because I had to go back to the doctor Friday with a low grade fever and splitting headache. I never get headaches, so when I do, I am definitely sick. I have been coughing for the past three weeks. My family doctor listened to my lungs and thought he heard something. They took a chest x-ray and sure enough I have walking pneumonia. So I am on another antibiotic.

So all three of the hellions were at the mother-in-law's house Friday night. Saturday morning we got up and I was feeling pretty good. The wife took a shower and I walked into the room as she was putting her clothes on. She looked at me and I looked at her and she said "What? You are looking at me like you want to have sex. We have to get some stuff done" which meant painting Adrienne's room.

It has been at least three weeks since I have gotten any, so the streak continues. I guess I can't be too critical of her because she is on a drug that decreases her already pretty low libido. Also I didn't get her anything for our 9th anniversary. She never said anything to me about this, but I know it really, really bothers her. I hate these occasions because I hate trying to buy something for someone else. She did spend $70 of our money to buy me a massage for our anniversary (which of course I would have never bought for myself). I guess I am just going to have to force myself to buy presents and learn to live with the lack of sexual satisfaction with a partner and just be appreciative of what I do have.