March 22, 2008
Worry
My father goes into surgery Tuesday.
He has been putting off his hip replacement for nearly a decade and can barely walk. The doctor, upon looking at his X-Rays last year, was astonished that he could walk at all, people are usually restricted to wheelchairs long before they reach his level of deterioration. He has been muddling along in pain for years...first to reach retirement and then to do the myriad things that have cropped up since. He's not that old, only 65, but a perfect storm of injuries and genes have given him the hips of a 90 year old football player.
Monday a spanner was thrown in the works.....a fault was detected in his heart. Essentially, his left ventricle is backfiring. This puts him at some risk from the anesthesia. The past week has been spent in interminable tests to determine if it is even safe to operate. After looking over the results the doctor explained that he faces some real risk. However, he left the decision to my dad due to the pressing fact that my dad is 65 and looking at 30-40 years in a wheelchair in pain without the surgery. So, my father is, understandably, going ahead with it.
Stupidity, circumstances and naivete' put me on the side of a 200 foot cliff with my sweaty palms loosing their grip. I've gotten entangled in debris while diving, found myself surrounded by barracuda and been face to face with a tiger shark as well as a herd of wild pigs. I've been seasick and upside down hanging head first in the bilge of a sinking boat trying to install a spare bilge pump while seas higher than our pilot house dunked me in my own vomit...and I was scared to death each and every time.
.....but I've never been quite as scared as I am tonight......
I'll know something by noon Tuesday.
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He has been putting off his hip replacement for nearly a decade and can barely walk. The doctor, upon looking at his X-Rays last year, was astonished that he could walk at all, people are usually restricted to wheelchairs long before they reach his level of deterioration. He has been muddling along in pain for years...first to reach retirement and then to do the myriad things that have cropped up since. He's not that old, only 65, but a perfect storm of injuries and genes have given him the hips of a 90 year old football player.
Monday a spanner was thrown in the works.....a fault was detected in his heart. Essentially, his left ventricle is backfiring. This puts him at some risk from the anesthesia. The past week has been spent in interminable tests to determine if it is even safe to operate. After looking over the results the doctor explained that he faces some real risk. However, he left the decision to my dad due to the pressing fact that my dad is 65 and looking at 30-40 years in a wheelchair in pain without the surgery. So, my father is, understandably, going ahead with it.
Stupidity, circumstances and naivete' put me on the side of a 200 foot cliff with my sweaty palms loosing their grip. I've gotten entangled in debris while diving, found myself surrounded by barracuda and been face to face with a tiger shark as well as a herd of wild pigs. I've been seasick and upside down hanging head first in the bilge of a sinking boat trying to install a spare bilge pump while seas higher than our pilot house dunked me in my own vomit...and I was scared to death each and every time.
.....but I've never been quite as scared as I am tonight......
I'll know something by noon Tuesday.
Posted by: The Brickmuppet at
11:21 PM
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1
What makes it even more scary is that you're powerless to do anything, completely helpless. All you can do is wait.
Posted by: Steven Den Beste at Sun Mar 23 11:41:26 2008 (+rSRq)
2
Best wishes to your dad, Brickmuppet.
Posted by: Pixy Misa at Mon Mar 24 05:01:35 2008 (PiXy!)
3
Best wishes to you and your dad and our sincerest hope that all goes well. If you need anything let us know.
Posted by: Brian & Lori at Mon Mar 24 08:03:24 2008 (tVWQB)
4
Crossing feathers for your dad, 'Muppet. You might want to mention to the doc that the Anadatae Liberation Front takes care of its friends...
Posted by: Wonderduck at Mon Mar 24 09:52:15 2008 (gwUM9)
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