Stroke
So, last Sunday, I got a phone call from my stepmom to let me know my dad had had a stroke. At first they were hoping it was a TIA, which leaves no damage -- symptoms resolve in about 24 hours. But it turned out it was an actual stroke, with some permanent damage. He's lucky that it was very mild -- left leg is numb, left arm a bit. But you can't see it on his face and his mental faculties seem OK (We debated politics post-election and he was articulate as ever).
It freaked me out though, and I ended up going up to Ohio for three days to see him for myself. My stepmom had also just had knee surgery, so they were a bit frazzled with everything.
Some of you know and some of you don't -- my relationship with my dad has been rocky, to say the least. He was often verbally and emotionally abusive when I was a teenager -- particularly about my weight and my popularity (or lack thereof), and it intensified when my mom left him late in my senior year. I didn't speak to him for two years after that.
However, when Kipp left me, Dad really came through for me -- and I also stopped having expectations for him to be the Brady Bunch dad. The past 10 years have been pretty good -- and I like my stepmom, which helps, too.
So realizing that I could've have lost him (He didn't want to go to the hospital when they did -- luckily my stepmom is a pushy broad), and that it is likely that I will lose him sooner rather than later (he's at a high risk for a second stroke), was pretty emotional.
He's doing pretty well -- he'll start physical therapy this week. He's on new medications. He already eats pretty healthy -- and my stepmom is on a crusade to improve that even more. And he's an active runner, walker/hiker, and golfer.
I think what scares me the most is having him be less of himself. I watched his father, my grandfather, fade away into Alzheimer's, and I think I'd rather the second stroke just outright kill him rather than see another person go through that mental deterioration.
Keeping fingers crossed that PT helps and that he does OK for a good long while yet.
It freaked me out though, and I ended up going up to Ohio for three days to see him for myself. My stepmom had also just had knee surgery, so they were a bit frazzled with everything.
Some of you know and some of you don't -- my relationship with my dad has been rocky, to say the least. He was often verbally and emotionally abusive when I was a teenager -- particularly about my weight and my popularity (or lack thereof), and it intensified when my mom left him late in my senior year. I didn't speak to him for two years after that.
However, when Kipp left me, Dad really came through for me -- and I also stopped having expectations for him to be the Brady Bunch dad. The past 10 years have been pretty good -- and I like my stepmom, which helps, too.
So realizing that I could've have lost him (He didn't want to go to the hospital when they did -- luckily my stepmom is a pushy broad), and that it is likely that I will lose him sooner rather than later (he's at a high risk for a second stroke), was pretty emotional.
He's doing pretty well -- he'll start physical therapy this week. He's on new medications. He already eats pretty healthy -- and my stepmom is on a crusade to improve that even more. And he's an active runner, walker/hiker, and golfer.
I think what scares me the most is having him be less of himself. I watched his father, my grandfather, fade away into Alzheimer's, and I think I'd rather the second stroke just outright kill him rather than see another person go through that mental deterioration.
Keeping fingers crossed that PT helps and that he does OK for a good long while yet.