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Daddy in the hospital
By juliezavala in My Turn
March 6, 2011

My husband and I brought Dad to DeTar's emergency room after he started having severe chest pains yesterday evening. They admitted him and now he's being pumped with antibiotics and medicines that control the fluid in his lungs. He's such a sweet and funny patient and I think he's charmed the nurses who have been caring for him.

Dad got choked on his food earlier today and gave himself, Robert and his nurses a pretty good scare. After that the doctor put him on a liquids only diet until tomorrow. That's fine with me! I wasn't here when it happened; I had gone home to get some rest. I would probably have been freaking out if I had seen it.

Sunday, 3:40 am

I got my chance to freak out and I did it in spectacular fashion. Dad choked again; this time on a sip of water. He was turning purple and couldn't breathe so I went into panic mode. I started crying and yelling for help. I had to leave the room while they tried to get oxygen back into his tired, confused old body. The nurses did a great job getting Dad calmed down and sedated and he's now snoring away. One of the nurses was very compassionate and she helped to calm me down. All the nurses here have been wonderful.

I hate this. I hate not being able to fix him-- to cure him. I want my dad back. I'll settle for (settle? Hell, I want him back!) the slightly confused little man who came to live with us 6 months ago. We had so much fun getting to know each other again. I will never be able to eat a Dairy Queen Blizzard, see a train passing by, go to Saxet Lakes or Rockport without thinking of my dad; the sound of a train horn, the songs by Montovani, Linda Ronstadt, dad's bedroom, dad's chair, his cat, Felix, Gunsmoke tv series...

But Dad's still hanging in there and I'll be here for him as long as he needs me.