One minute, you’re rolling along, getting things done; the next, you’re throwing clothes into a suitcase and hitting the road. There’s no way around it; our parents are aging… I fully expect health concerns with them to become more and more common, as will unexpected trips because of those concerns…
Early last week John’s father went in for a routine medical test to address difficulty swallowing; for several years he’s had trouble taking pill-form medications and eating certain foods. The problem worsened recently to the point where his doctor decided to perform an endoscopy so he could ‘see’ what was going on.
Things did not go exactly as planned; at some point during the procedure, his esophagus was torn...
Our drive to Boone seemed to take longer than ever before; I could feel the anxiety rising in my husband with every passing mile… The fact that our friend was burying his father the following day was no small matter, adding to John’s worry; the closer we got to the hospital, the more tightly wound he was…
Walking into the ICU, seeing his dad in that condition was a shock to us both, even though we know how quickly things can go horribly wrong…
An ordinary outpatient procedure suddenly required significant intervention and hospitalization. My father-in-law was transported by ambulance to a larger hospital in Winston-Salem, lights and siren blazing the entire way…
After several anxious and uncomfortable days, it was finally determined that the tear was small and had already begun to heal itself. Additional tests showed a minor leakage of air but not liquids. He was discharged and went home three days after it began, shaken and physically feeling awful after the experience. It was three more days before he started to feel like himself again.
I have to say, it took about as long for John to recover his bearings too. Although we were loathe to admit it at the time, we were afraid that we were heading straight into an unwanted outcome, just like four years ago when we got the call about B’s accident… The difference being back then, we didn’t know any better…
I am very grateful things turned out okay; it could have easily gone the other way. It reminded me that things don't always have the worst possible outcome.
I know we all have our time… I just hope and pray we still have a while to go before we do…
Please join me on September 15th from 9-3 p.m. @ NW Cabarrus HS in Concord for State Farm’s ‘Celebrate My Drive’ event.
Wishing you many blessings, sunshine and hope…tg
Tammy will update her blog on Mondays and Thursdays
