Almost Forgot It Was 2008

Things were going along fairly well. I'd sold more drums*, I'd started getting back on track in my budget, and I'd even started wading slowly back into the deep and treacherous currents of writing. Then came today, or rather this afternoon.

Dad has recently been put on several different, sometimes conflicting meds to deal with a heart issue that's cropped up with age. At least one of them is a blood thinner. On Sunday, without going into unnecessary detail, he noticed blood where there ought not be any. Monday it was worse. Today, it was tapering off, but he still went in to the doctor's, suspecting some issue with his newest med schedule. It seemed like a routine visit - they scheduled him for an appointment tomorrow. Then they called back; the doctor decided they'd rather see him right away.

Red flag time.

Before he left, I demanded Dad describe for me just where this doctor's office was, having never been there and suspecting (in the paranoid corner of my mind that still remembers the latter days of 2005 with terror) I'd have to find it if the doctor didn't want him driving home. Just a precaution, I told myself. Then, at about 5:15, the phone rang.

Another red flag.

I had a brief flashback to another phone call, received in the aforementioned latter days of 2005. So it was with some hint of trepidation that I listened for the answering machine to reveal who was speaking. Yes, it was Dad. They wanted him to go to the local ER (fortunately we have one on our side of the lake) for issues relating to possible internal bleeding and disturbing med levels in his blood. (Now, Dad has told them and told them that he reacts strongly to meds - a little for him almost invariably goes a long, long way - but it takes this to get them to take him seriously, I suppose...) Oh, and someone ought to come along to take home his car, as they refused point-blank to let him drive himself.

The downside of being a pessimist is being right...

So off we went, Mom, my sister, and I, in the trusty Taurus up to the doctor's office. I was amazed at how much the place had been built up even in the five-odd years since I used to drive that way to work. Nevertheless, we found him and headed down to the ER for more tests and more waiting.

I swear, someone needs to do a study on time in hospitals. It can be simultaneously the longest and shortest span of one's life.

Okay, to cut a four-and-a-half hour long wait short, the outcome was the following:

1 - Dad is in a local hospital. Half the wait at least was finding an area hospital with an open bed. For unknown reasons which even the doctors couldn't describe (and obviously weren't happy about, as Dad wasn't the only patient needing a bed tonight), hospital space is at a premium right now. I wonder if the mortgage crisis has forced patients who would once have been treated and streeted to rent out their hospital rooms in lieu of hunting for the mythical affordable housing in this area.

2 - His blood issues had stablized and evidence of internal GI bleeding had tapered off, which is Good. They still aren't sure where it was coming from, which isn't so good, but since he'd recently passed a full physical with fair, if not flying, colors, I figure it's something relatively minor aggravated to unnecessary prominence by his cruddy med dosages.

3 - The outcome of all this is that they need to rebalance his meds. He needs blood thin enough not to cause turbulence and potential clots with his heart issues, but not so thin as to cause more bleeding issues. To do this, they need him in-house where they can keep a constant watch on his blood numbers. Besides, with his blood thinned the way it is, if he started bleeding anywhere they'd have a hell of a time stopping it, and they would much, much rather him be in a hospital in such an event.

Oh, and a bonus 4 - After a long day's wait for news in the ER, dinner at Denny's tastes extra flavorful.

When we left (on our way to Denny's, because there was nothing else we could really do tonight by sitting around), he was about to be loaded into the ambulance for the trip up to his bed; he called about half an hour ago with his room info. So now I can sleep knowing my dad is being watched over and cared for properly... and maybe now they'll start listening when he says his meds seem screwy.

* - Since I'm updating my blog anyway and wanted to end on a more pleasant note, I thought I'd post the pics of my latest drums for anyone who doesn't frequent my usual message board haunt. The first two were by request, and the last done for the store because I would never have the opportunity again...
Lioness, Tiger, and Bear... Oh My! And since my previous post, I sold another drum: the gryphon. Both it and the wolf were bought by someone from Sweden, so I've officially gone international. The only two left in the store are the bobcat and the bear, so I gotta get painting again... was going to start up this weekend, but we'll see how family's doing first.