As you are well aware, my Dad fell on March 17 (St. Patrick's Day, Eddie's birthday) and basically broke his neck. The neck repair went well and he was off to a quick recovery when it became apparent that a misguided catheter placement damaged Dad's plumbing system pretty seriously which resulted in a nasty infection. After a few intensely painful procedures and then a risky surgery last Thursday, he is finally on the mend. He was released from the hospital this afternoon and enrolled for rehab in Legacy Village in Taylorsville. After a few confusing transition hours he seems comfortable and ready for rehab. The only tube in his system is the feeding line and that is a huge relief!
Hospital life is ok but extremely slow; it's like you hurry to wait! Patients wait for medications, they wait for someone to help them to the bathroom, they wait for speech therapy and physical therapy, they wait for orders and changes in orders, they wait for someone to get them out of bed in the morning and back to bed in the evening. However, I must admit that although life in a hospital is s l o w we met some amazingly nice members of the hospital staff. The nurses like Brandon, Cathy, Lindsey, Brent, January, Vonnie and others were competent, caring and helpful. The CNAs, Regina, Carol, Laurie, Mary, and Kathy were kind and considerate and became my Dad's good friends and caregivers. The PT, Dr. Nate and the Speech therapist, Jan were very good, as well. They all joined in our family celebration of Dad's 85th birthday, April 4. They became keenly aware of our love and commitment to Dad and making sure all his needs were being met. I must say that I learned a lot. I had no idea exactly what a prostate was/is until this experience. Nor did I know how delicate the swallowing muscles are and if compromised take weeks, maybe months to get back to functioning.
At one point in the past weeks, Dad was frustrated that he wasn't getting better. He had priesthood blessings and many prayers were offered on his behalf. He was concerned that he "needed to have a little more faith." Believe me, my dad is one of the most faithful, Christ-like men I know. If he feels like he needs a little more faith, where does that leave the rest of the family? I am so very thankful for the blessings Dad has received. I am also thankful for the time all of us (the eight Huber siblings) have spent sitting with Dad in all kinds of pairings and combinations. I can't say it was fun, but we did get along (for the most part) and let Dad know we were united in supporting him in any situation.
Needless to say, the past weeks have flown by. When we dropped Willie off at the MTC six weeks ago, it appeared he would be there forever. Now, his departure to Lithuania is just fourteen days from today. I (we) have been so busy with Dad, the time has flown by.
1 comment:
You summed it all up...great post!
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