Just as I finished that last post, Dad was taken by Kris to ER. He had problems breathing and was very week. Turns out he is anemic and needed 2 unites of blood. He ended up staying until being discharged at 10:15 pm -- yes pm -- yesterday.
Dr. A conducted another bronchoscopy because the CT showed the mass in his lung had grown. It's now at 4.5 cm. The doc had a few samples and located the mass behind his airway. That makes it hard to get to. But Dad isn't a candidate for surgery anyhow.
Jill is being so so helpful. She took care of Mom last night putting her to bed. Today she's gotten the 5 new scripts filled, checked on problems with dad's pulse-ox reader, did their banking, and hung out a bit to be sure they were doing ok.
Wow our next week is scary! I teach for Owens Corning Monday - Friday from 8 - 5 with no lunch break. Lunches are in the classroom as part of a "working meeting." YUCK! But the really frustrating part is that I am the one who goes to the docs with Dad and he now has 1 lab and 2 doc appointments next week. Mom has 2 doc appointments but Lori takes her to those. The following Monday Mom has 1 more doc appointment and I take her to that doc.
People who don't have seriously or acutely ill parents have no comprehension of the strain it creates. I could talk about the emotional strain but I've done that now for weeks. I could mention the physical strain as well -- and that most of us end up in poor health (e.g. my Dad now) as a result. There's also the time strain as you figure out what in your old life you can eliminate to make time for the new demands. Then there is the financial strain. The cost of the illness can be measured in dollars for meds or dollars for co-pay's. But it can also be measured in lost productivity. I missed 11 hours of work this week. I'm salaried so technically my check won't be short. But I have a heavy workload. That trade off shows up on Saturday or Sunday when I'll work all day at the office or tote it all home and work from there.
On a lighter note, I am so happy to hear that Herman Cain is thinking about running for president. I love that man and could listen to him all day long. He's brilliant and business savvy and a man with a good heart. Now The Donald is not only list of exciting possible contenders. But it's shaping up to be an interesting election cycle. I look forward to hearing from Herman the next few months and hope the American voters will too.
The day is winding down. I should pack up so I can tote all that stuff home. I have 2 grueling weeks ahead. As I told Derek this morning, however, the 2 trips to Peru are the light in my day. And helping Gab plan a yet unannounced wedding is already shaping up to be loads of fun. Oh yeah, remember financial strain in that paragraph above? Um. Yeah.
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