Last Tuesday I received a call from my dad. He was in the hospital again for stroke number 2. The doctors had told him to start saying goodbye to his family, so we bought tickets and flew down to Florida on Wednesday.
Most of you know that he had a kidney removed back in 2007 due to cancer. Since then, he has been tested for cancer every month. He was cancer free up until last fall. Suddenly, he went from cancer free, to stage 4 all over his body. We flew down then to spend time with him while we could. Then the doctors said that they had the cancer on the run and he was getting better. Then in December, the cancer suddenly showed up in his brain and he had a stroke. He had brain surgery and most of the cancer was removed.
So here he was going threw another stroke. The doctors tell us that his condition is bad and that they can’t do anything to stop it. “He has little time left and should spend as much time with family as possible.” He was released and sent home Wednesday night. We brought him to his home and helped him in. He seemed in good spirits and pain free. Walking is tough but he has his GoGo and our help.
That night I had trouble sleeping. My back started to bother me. I figured it was because of the different bed. By morning I was doubled over in pain. I started to think that maybe I pulled something helping him in and out of his chair, bed, wheelchair etc. The pain got to the point that I couldn’t take it anymore. I was lying on his bathroom floor puking before they called 911.
At the hospital, they told me that I had 3 kidney stones on my right side. At 8mm each, they were too big to pass on my own. But the guy who does the ultrasound procedures would not be in until the following Tuesday. That was the day of our flight back. So they put a tube in from my bladder to my right kidney to keep the stones from blocking my passage. I asked them if I had any stones on the left side, but they told me that they didn’t check my left side. I guess that my logic of thinking that, if there are 3 on one side that the other side might have some too, is faulty. After a day there, I was sent home, or to my dad’s home. While there I made many calls to find a doctor in our area to do the ultrasound and remove this fracking tube. But no doctors take my insurance. I ended up finding one 50 miles away that will, but they needed my medical records before they would even schedule an appointment. I had singed off in Florida to have the records sent to my home so I figured I would try again once home.
I just got back to our home late yesterday. No records. I called the hospital in Florida. They said that I never filled out the forms that I know I did. After hours of fighting and talking to every manager available, I filled them out again. The doctor up here has my records now but I’m waiting for an appointment. Can’t wait to get this tube out. It feels like I have to pee all the time. And peeing is like a trip to hell. I’d rather have hot pokers stuck in my eyes.