Last year was one of the roughest years of my life. My Dad died. My Dad passed away on November 9, 2009. So it hasn't been a full year yet. I am dreading the year anniversary of his passing because it means he has been gone for a year and the further time has gone since I have seen him.
Here is what happened last year:
June 1, 2009 - My Dad had his heart attack, which no heart attack is a good one but we were led to believe it could have been MUCH MUCH worse. That his wasn't a bad heart attack. He recovered for a week in the Hospital, actually Rochester General Hospital which happens to be a top 100 Heart Health Hospital and is associated with the Cleveland Clinic.
June 8, 2009 - Dad comes home from the hospital to recover. He was told that within the next two years he will need bypass surgery. (He also needed his heart valve replaced but not sure if we knew that then.)
July and August - We had a normal summer, we had lots of BBQs Mom and Dad came out to my land, we went out to dinner, breakfast, we had our garagae sale together, Mom and Dad came to Dee Dee's dance recital (the last GREAT pic of my Dad came from there) I didn't know at the time that this would be my last summer with my Dad. But I am grateful that I had that time. The night before his bypass we all went out for ice cream together. My Dad and my husband got along REALLY well.
Mid August - Dad failed a stress test miserably!!!! So they moved up the bypass/heart valve replacement surgery to August 24th 2009, so much for TWO YEARS, try two months! In the meantime, I was hired on as a New Teacher (even tho. I am not new - a new district means you still need to attend New Teacher Training, which is what I did full time the week before his surgery - I started a new job in a new school district!)
End August/ Beg Sept. - Dad made it through his surgery and got to come home on my birthday August 31, 2009, he had to stay a touch longer than expected but approximately a week. I have Open House for my Kinder kids and prepare for the start of a new school year with a new grade level and a new school for me.
Mid Sept. - I hold my curriculum night. My Dad is readmitted to the Hospital right from the Cardiologists office, they are not happy that he is retaining fluid in his mid section. One of the parents of one of my students walks in with her nurse heart uniform, until then I hadn't mentioned to any of the parents what was going on, because we thought he was getting better, but this was a uniform I was getting to know all too well. She even had the heart, while she wasn't on my Dad's floor directly, she said she would visit him and she did.
Mid Sept to Mid Oct - Dad will spend a TON of time on the 5th floor at RGH, the heart floor, the nurses there got to know him and REALLY like him! My mom would go from sun up to sun down and sit with him all day long everyday, dealing with drs. and nurses and I would try to relieve her after I got done working I would go to the hospital to sit with my Dad. The good part is I was working part time in the afternoons, so I still had mornings with DD. I became very familiar with the hospital, parking, food etc. etc.
Dad is discharged but wasn't well, next morning I had to rush him with DD in her PJs back to the ER, I was the "ambulance" driver that day. Long storty short, many tests later, he has a STAPH infection. Which his attending so kindly told us that the HOSPITAL gave it to him!!!!! So tons of blood bags given, tons of antibiotics, three different chest tubes to drain fluid off of his lungs, kidney drs. and the mess. Soooooo,,,,,,,,let's take a sick guy and make him even sicker, oh and lets not forget the atrial fib he was still in. Oh AND lets operate!!!! That is sure to help!!! So ...
Oct. 24th - Dad goes back into surgery to get the staph rind - pulled off of his lungs!! To be honest with you we weren't sure if he was going to make it through this one and he did. The surgeon said it went well and recovery wouldn't be as bad as the first heart surgery, so we have HOPE.
Oct. 30 - Dad comes home - AGAIN from the hospital and I brought DD over on Halloween so he could see her in her outfit. He is getting BETTER and mom is giving him antibiotics to continue to kill the staph infection. He was in some pain from the surgery. I didn't visit much since I was relieved, he was home, getting better and I thought now I can get back to a more normal family life etc. My husband, allowed me to be at the hospital as much as possible and I will be forever grateful for that.
Nov. 8 - Dad called me and asked me when I was coming over, like I said I hadn't visited much since Halloween as I thought he was getting better. So DD and I went over with Apple Dippers from McDonalds for everyone as a treat. We all sat at the kitchen table and ate and talked and laughed. We joked about my Dad snowblowing driveways in the upcoming winter, obviously he wouldn't be able to do that but we laughed about how he would explain that to the surgeon, I asked him what he wanted for Christmas, he said his standard "A new truck." So thankful for this day and that I went to Dad's house and not to school to work, yes I was going to go to work on a Sunday! My Dad was walking around, he put his sneakers on and went outside on the back patio and said "this would have been a good day for a wine tour" something he loved to do with my mom, john and I on occasion.
Monday Nov. 9, 2009 - 5:50am - the phone rings, my husband answers, its my mom, my dad passed away in his sleep in the early am hours. How life can change in the blink of an eye! One day you are talking to someone whom is walking around, looking pretty good and the next they are gone. The hard part was we thought he was getting better, as did my mom who is a nurse!
