Catching up

If you're reading this blog, then you're probably a Facebook friend and you know that my dad was rushed to the hospital last Friday, but I'll recap here.

My dad is probably the last person to go to a doctor and most certainly wouldn't go to the hospital unless he was flirting with the most painful experience and/or saw his insides on the outside. Gratefully, that last part didn't happen, but the first part did. Last Friday, his stubbornness and pain collided and he agreed to be taken to an urgent care clinic by my mom. Once there, the doc said he needed to go to the hospital.

Communication was s-l-o-w because my mom forgot her cell phone. By the time I called my brother and let him know the news and attempted to call someone from my parent's Bible study, I was ready for an update so I called the hospital. When the nurses station picked up my call, they knew immediately who I was asking about and handed my mom the phone. Think they had received a few phone calls already?!? haha.

Friday was a waiting game as my dad was loaded up on drugs and the docs ran every type of scan/test the hospital offers. It was eventually concluded that my dad had acute pancreatitis caused by a very angry gall bladder. His levels were all over the place and he was going to have to sit tight until his body calmed down. I talked to him Saturday about 10 minutes after a dose of pain killers and my dad was something else. It was good to hear his voice but his conversation needed a lot of deciphering and I said bye to my dad could rest.

As the days continued, my dad got better and better. He was still in a lot of pain, but his body was responding and leveling out. Surgery was set for Tuesday and my dad is now sans gall bladder and can be a gall bladder-less buddy with my mom. He went in for another procedure this morning, an endoscopy to try to find a rogue stone, which ended up being just a hardening of something or another.

But finally, my dad is on the mend. He'll probably go home tomorrow and rest/recuperate. He needs to rest and take care of himself at this point. My parents think he's probably had gall bladder issues for a couple of years and can even pinpoint an attack that happened recently but that they thought was a reaction to bad food. None of that matters now. The only thing that matters is that my dad is on the mend and that his pancreas is functioning properly. Day by day. Little by little. I praise Jesus for him being on the mend and for the doctors, nurses, technicians, staff and surgeons that have worked around the clock to keep my dad moderately pain-free and stable.

Dad, I'll see you soon! I'm pretty sure Madeline is really good medicine for the soul, so we'll be on our way soon enough!