I shouldn't let my blog go so long unmaintained but a family emergency has kept me away. When I went to visit my parents in Denver for the holidays, my father had a cold that was strapping him of energy. My Mum wanted him to go to see a doctor but he believed that once he got back to the warmth of Florida he would get better. He didn't. Around Valentine's Day he lost his appetite & couldn't walk past the end of the block. So on V-Day itself, he went to the doctor & was immediate emitted to the hospital. He was diaginosis with aggressive Leukemia.
The next morning I told my firm, got a leave of absense then started packing up my apartment into the back of my truck. The plan was to drive down, pick up my sister & be in Florida for whatever was going to happen. It took me two weeks to sell all of my furniture & get out of my apartment. I had the time because he had pneumonia & they had to cure that before they started chemo therapy. When they started chemo- his body wasn't accepting the platlettes but killing them & flushing them into his lungs. So he was moved to the ICU. I parked my truck in a friend's garage & got the next plane down.
My Mum & sister were there to pick me up at the airport. My uncle & aunt were there too. I hate to be Proustan but the man in the hospital bed was not my father. In a dark lit room, a sick man laid there scaring me.
He got better & started recovery. My uncle, aunt & sister return to their respective homes. For a month, my Mum & I traded days that we went to see him. Every other day I was at the Tri-Rail Station by 9am. Down to the Metrorail station to transfer southbound. Get off at Civic Center and cross the street to the University of Miami Cedars Hospital. Check in & then up to the penthouse (otherwise known as the 13th floor). Put on a mask & visit with my father, bring his mail, comb out the clumps of hair, eat chocolates, walk the hall. Then leave by 2pm to catch the Metrorail to take the two hour return trip. Return to Boynton Beach by 4:30pm to be greeted by my Mum & Itchy at the station.
After the month my father's platlettes number were stabilized to bring him home. He was home for three days & one St. Patrick's Day meal before he went back to another hospital to continue the chemo. After six days we got him back & he's been going for check-ups twice a week. The last check up they said he needs to go back for more chemo.
I feel that worse situation that might be ahead will make me lose balance so I'm going with my father's positive attitude. He's talking on the physical plane & making plans for a summer return to Colorado. Plus he's returned to telling me what I should do with my life......its good to be around my Dad.
Now to living in a retirement community when you're not retired: All the times that I didn't get hit on while I was in Alaska......making up for it now! Next, how is it I can be a great shuffleboarder but a crappy curler, aren't they the same thing? Also, there are three languages spoken in South Florida- Spanish, Creole & New Yorker....I'm only marginally fluent in all three. Furthermore, there is some serious propaganda in the works !Grandmas & grandpas are mean, mean people.
Miss you more then good health,
V