The Books I'll Write - Part One

Before I was married or had children, I swore I knew more about raising kids than the people who actual birthed them. And later after I married, but still before my own children were born, I had a partner with whom we swore we would write a book on the correct methods of child rearing. Both of us childless at the time, but had so much wisdom to share with the world. Needless to say, we never got around to write "the book", but both agreed that we would have had to completely revamp and revise the original after we actually had children of our own! We also discovered that we would now have to write two completely different books, because we had two completely different styles of raising our girls. We have laughed many days about the concept of "the book".

Well, I decided this weekend that the next book I'll write will be about the adventures of my dad's last days! No my dad is not dead...yet. My dad is however a very sick man, but today he is alive. We've been told Dad could die any minute or he could live for years. My dad loves to aggravate people for good laugh. He's always looking for a way to pull one over on someone. So with that mind, I'll say that my family has a choice to either cry and dwell on the vital state of my father's health or laugh with him each day that he's still with us. I choose to laugh! I have my moments when the realization that his days are numbered hits me, but I choose not to dwell there.

So let me catch you up to this weekend.

My dad is 67 years old. He is a heart, diabetic and kidney patient. His heart is just about worn out. The diabetes is eating his body up. And his kidneys have all but stopped working. Daddy is just an old country boy that was raised on fried foods and hard work. Taking care of himself (eating healthy and exercising) was never thought of I'm sure, so now he's suffering the consequences.

Daddy had his first heart attack in 2000; his second in 2007. Repair after the first was a triple bypass. The second only allowed for a stint because the diabetes had done so much damage to the heart muscle. His doctor told us that Daddy was "a walking time bomb". The next heart attack will be massive and will kill him. The doctor did not beat around the bush to explain the seriousness of his condition. This is same doctor that said, "So...you're still alive??!!" on one of dad's follow-up visits after H/A #2!

During his stay in the hospital with the last heart attack, his kidneys starting shutting down. So he has had regular visits with a kidney specialists since then. My dad lovingly refers to this doctor as "Dr. Kervorkian". He is Russian with a strong accent and very soft spoken. Oh did I mention my dad is deaf in his right ear and hard of hearing in his left. After several failed attempts of gaining kidney function with medicines and diet, Daddy had to have a procedure done last year to insert a fistula into his arm which is a port to have dialysis done when the time came.

Within the last month, Daddy has had to change to a "sliding scale" for his insulin. So at least once a week, he has been going to a local doctor where they live, and having blood drawn so they can manage the correct amount of insulin his body needs. We think a lot of this doctor. He is the one who took care of Daddy when he had his 2nd heart attack until they could transfer him to a Hot Springs hospital. He is also the doctor that took care of Aunt Mildred at the end. As he was struggling to get Daddy's meds right, he told him that he "didn't have much to work with" referring to the condition of my dad's health. Which all leads up to Daddy being admitted to the hospital this weekend.

This story is much longer than I anticipated so I'll continue tomorrow. But I'll leave with a couple of my favorite photos of Daddy.