Naptime is the New Happy Hour....

Since Thursday, things have been hell. Not husband doing something to tick me off hell, but actual crisis. Allergy season has not been pretty, and with it just about everyone I know has been battling sinus infections, colds, ear infections, etc. My kids have had the sinus stuff going on, and my youngest had ear infections. My parents seemed to have the same without the ear stuff. My dad, who waits forever to see a doctor cause he's a manly man, had an appointment Thursday. When I left that morning to go to work, he had already left to see his doc. Not long after I got to work I got a text message from my mom, that my dads doc office had told him to go to the ER immediately, that they were thinking he had pneumonia and he would need a chest xray to confirm. My dad is 68 and has never had to go to the ER or hospital for himself in all years, and I know he hates that stuff so I was really worried. I attempted to inform my closest family members to keep them informed by texting and a phone call. I texted on of my sisters who's immediate reply was "OMG you need to find a new babysitter." Yes her first response. Followed by, "he's told old and they keep him sick" followed by the kids are taking a toll of dad and my mom. Followed by me calling her a bitch and then ceasing all contact. Nothing better then having my kids blamed for all of this. I don't know what her problem is, she has broken my heart with her mean statements.

I left work right away, and drove to the ER to meet my mom and dad who were already in the back. I had already gotten messaged that the ER was going to admit him right away. When I got in the back, to his spot in the ER, my heart sunk. My dad was laying on gurney with Oxygen, gasping, and he honestly looked like he was dying. Not 10 seconds after I walked in the room a nurse and doctor came in and said, "we need to admit you to ICU right now we think you have pneomonia, and your kidneys are failing." I have seen my dad cry just 2 other times in my entire life. Once when we had to put a dog to sleep when I was 7, and then during the rehersal for my wedding he had tears falling when we were pretending he was giving me away. The tears flowed from him again, and my mom and I told him it was ok, since my dad was still refusing to be admitted, my mom and I both begged him to please stay, get the care that he needed so he could get better and come home. He finally agreed, and moments later he was up in ICU.

I sat with my mom and waited while they got him settled up in ICU, and then later my sister as we waited to hear more of what was going on and when we could see him. My mom and I went back first. I might have mentioned a few times on here, but I work in a dialysis unit, so I am familiar with the kidney terminology somewhat, and the nephrologist that was assigned to my dad was one I had known several years ago at another clinic. I hate saying this, but working in dialysis after a while makes me somewhat numb to everything, but when it's someone you love, hearing someone you know and love has kidney failure is such rude reality, and scary as hell. It was sureal to see a doctor I knew in the field now talking about my dad. Apparently, according to the nephrologist, my dad did not have pnemonia, but rather he was in severe kidney failure. They felt it was not from his diabetes though, and rather from some of his other medications he was on. The doctor took him off all his regular meds and said he had hoped for his kidney's to improve, and they would start other tests. Luckily, once they got a catheter going he had really good urine out put, so emergency dialysis was not needed yet, and they would continue to watch in case he did.

Halfway through friday all of his other vitals were stable, so they felt he could now go to a normal room. Those poor nurses! My dad hates needles, has never been in a hospital before, and hates not understanding everything, so he wasn't exactly an ideal patient. I tried to be up at the hospital as much as possible because I obviously, given how scared he was I know he did not want to be alone, and he was so worked up even though the nurses were explaining things to him, he wasn't listening, so it took having a family member re-expalining everything to him. On friday his kidney numbers came down on point, which was in the right direction but now where near where they need to be.

On Saturday, the kidney numbes had come down 3 points, which was putting him greatly out of danger , but still considered in kidney failure. However, they were confident that the numbers would continue to improve. They would prefer for him to stay in the hospital to be monitored for a few more days, but by now everyone knew him by name and was terrfied of that mean old man in room 375, that the doctor felt he could go home if he could rest completely, and get labs drawn Monday and go from there.

He's doing about the same, but he is so much happier to be home in his own surroundings. I am hopeful that the lab values will return to normal, and they can get him on different medication and that he wont have issues with his kidneys ever again.

Obviously, children (unless your suffer complications in pregnancy or recovering from having them) do not cause renal failure. I know my children are not taking a toll on my parents, and hopefully she just had word vomit because she was upset as well, and those are not her true feelings. Once my mom and dad were calm I asked them how they felt about babysitting, etc etc, and my parents swear up and down that it's something they look forward to, and is not stressful for them at all. My parents only watch the kids at the most 4 days a week between my schedule and my husbands. My kids also have preschool. Seriously, on the weekends I try to keep the kids away, and then my parents get all bent out of shape if they don't see them. Obviously, her comments were ignorant, and like I said, hopefully just saying something she didn't mean while panicing.

I hope my dad continues to recover, and I sure hope he doesn't wind up on dialysis, because I will be the biggest control freak ever. Please keep him in your thoughts and prayers. My dad means so much to me, and I have been a basket case because I can't imagine him not being in my life. He's horrible with expressing hiself, but I know how much his loves his children, and his grandchildren, and he would do anything for any of us.