Time to come home
I'm sorry I haven't updated for a few days but I was busy and then too tired to put things in words.
This weekend I was going to go the Formula 1 Grand Prix and work as a Fire Marshal there as I asked my brothers to cover for me and visit Dad both days. Unfortunately on Friday night the hospital called me and said Dad's telemetry (heart monitor) had detected some tachycardia and thus they'd moved him into the Coronary Care ward to be supervised until his Pacemaker operation.
I'm the baby of the family but of my two siblings my oldest two live interstate and thus can't help much and of the next two brothers the older one, John, is an invalid pensioner due to a number of chronic conditions which keep him house bound as he's often too unwell to even go shopping for groceries and the youngest brother, Andrew, is working full time and often taking his children out places.
Because Andrew was going to the Grand Prix with his family on Saturday to watch the races I decided to stay home so I was close to go in to Dad or for the hospital to contact me if needed (as John wasn't healthy enough to be able to drive in)
On Sunday I was up at 4am to get to the city and F1 track on time. It was so nice going in as this was my tenth year or volunteering at the GP and I have organised many, many firefighters to become fire marshals over the years so had many people delighted to see me. It was a long and HOT day with temperatures about 40C and above - the reported temperature on the track was 50C and I was wearing a set of heavy red overalls treated with fire retardant, woolen socks, heavy steel capped boots, triple layer heavy gloves, a woolen balaclava, woolen cap, sunglasses and tabard over the top to identify that I was an Official allowed in and on the track. In the 10 hours I stood in the one spot in this hot gear I drank around two litres of water an hour (difficult through a balaclava) and kept putting ice inside my overalls in an attempt to cool my body down. After the race we all cleaned up (as best we could), and went to a buffet meal put on for the Officials and watched an amazing like Kiss concert that was brilliant. I was exhausted by the time I finally got home 20 hours after I had got up.
Monday was the big day and despite the initial time of midday then 2.30pm being mentioned for Dad's operation he in fact didn't go in until almost 6pm. I waited with him the whole time and didn't leave until he was well and truely awake again, fed and had spoken to all of the family by about 9.30pm that night. The operation went very well and the Doctors said he could come home Wednesday (ie TODAY)!
Yesterday I finally uploaded pictures from my party! I hope you like them - they're on both Flickr ( http://www.flickr.com/photos/firebabe/sets/72157604142793764/ ) and my Facebook accounts. Thanks to everyone who came and helped make my day so wonderful despite my worrying about Dad.
I'm just about to go and collect Dad, pack his whole room and one gorgeous bunch of flowers from my amazing friends at MonUCS (everyone admires them and I have my eye on his balloon) Unfortunately my stunning bunch of Australian natives that I was given for my birthday and took in to brighten Dad's room were thrown out somehow despite the fact I had a note on the vase saying they were a dried arrangement and to leave them. Dad was really upset that they'd been lost - a clear sign he's actually feeling more like himself every day which is wonderful :)
I'll be able to finally assess his capabilities and what this means for his new level of care over the next few days. He's been in bed non stop for two and a half weeks, not been walking around and had everything brought to him so I don't know what his walking, eating, washing, etc skills are like. and how much they've declined from before the illness. There is a possibility I will not be able to leave him alone in the house at all and that may mean no more casual work for me.
This is about to be a day of discovery for the next stage of my life caring for Dad. I'm excited he's coming home ... and scared at the same time as to whether I'll cope.
This weekend I was going to go the Formula 1 Grand Prix and work as a Fire Marshal there as I asked my brothers to cover for me and visit Dad both days. Unfortunately on Friday night the hospital called me and said Dad's telemetry (heart monitor) had detected some tachycardia and thus they'd moved him into the Coronary Care ward to be supervised until his Pacemaker operation.
I'm the baby of the family but of my two siblings my oldest two live interstate and thus can't help much and of the next two brothers the older one, John, is an invalid pensioner due to a number of chronic conditions which keep him house bound as he's often too unwell to even go shopping for groceries and the youngest brother, Andrew, is working full time and often taking his children out places.
Because Andrew was going to the Grand Prix with his family on Saturday to watch the races I decided to stay home so I was close to go in to Dad or for the hospital to contact me if needed (as John wasn't healthy enough to be able to drive in)
On Sunday I was up at 4am to get to the city and F1 track on time. It was so nice going in as this was my tenth year or volunteering at the GP and I have organised many, many firefighters to become fire marshals over the years so had many people delighted to see me. It was a long and HOT day with temperatures about 40C and above - the reported temperature on the track was 50C and I was wearing a set of heavy red overalls treated with fire retardant, woolen socks, heavy steel capped boots, triple layer heavy gloves, a woolen balaclava, woolen cap, sunglasses and tabard over the top to identify that I was an Official allowed in and on the track. In the 10 hours I stood in the one spot in this hot gear I drank around two litres of water an hour (difficult through a balaclava) and kept putting ice inside my overalls in an attempt to cool my body down. After the race we all cleaned up (as best we could), and went to a buffet meal put on for the Officials and watched an amazing like Kiss concert that was brilliant. I was exhausted by the time I finally got home 20 hours after I had got up.
Monday was the big day and despite the initial time of midday then 2.30pm being mentioned for Dad's operation he in fact didn't go in until almost 6pm. I waited with him the whole time and didn't leave until he was well and truely awake again, fed and had spoken to all of the family by about 9.30pm that night. The operation went very well and the Doctors said he could come home Wednesday (ie TODAY)!
Yesterday I finally uploaded pictures from my party! I hope you like them - they're on both Flickr ( http://www.flickr.com/photos/firebabe/sets/72157604142793764/ ) and my Facebook accounts. Thanks to everyone who came and helped make my day so wonderful despite my worrying about Dad.
I'm just about to go and collect Dad, pack his whole room and one gorgeous bunch of flowers from my amazing friends at MonUCS (everyone admires them and I have my eye on his balloon) Unfortunately my stunning bunch of Australian natives that I was given for my birthday and took in to brighten Dad's room were thrown out somehow despite the fact I had a note on the vase saying they were a dried arrangement and to leave them. Dad was really upset that they'd been lost - a clear sign he's actually feeling more like himself every day which is wonderful :)
I'll be able to finally assess his capabilities and what this means for his new level of care over the next few days. He's been in bed non stop for two and a half weeks, not been walking around and had everything brought to him so I don't know what his walking, eating, washing, etc skills are like. and how much they've declined from before the illness. There is a possibility I will not be able to leave him alone in the house at all and that may mean no more casual work for me.
This is about to be a day of discovery for the next stage of my life caring for Dad. I'm excited he's coming home ... and scared at the same time as to whether I'll cope.