DO NOT WANT!!!
So I went to Honolulu with my parents for my sister's wedding. Friday April 24th to the next Friday. My sister and her fiance were flying in Sunday, getting married on Monday and leaving on a cruise that evening which would take them around Hawaii and then to Vancouver for a dinner with family and friends. The idea for getting married in Hawaii is to make it easier, a nice small intimate affair with only a few guests. Mainly us and that was it. And we have a nice vacation to boot. Yeah, right.
First off, my parents do not get along most of the time. My mother is bipolar, my father is clueless. He's the type who walks along at his own pace, far outdistancing everyone before he finally looks around and realizes everyone is half a block or more behind him. Then he waits for us to catch up. Rinse, repeat. My mother is considerably slower then him and I feel bad for her so I slow down to try to walk with her.
They also have very different interests so he's likely to run off and do his own thing. Which upsets her because he leaves her behind. She grumbles they should just take separate vacations. Thing is, she is not interested in the things he wants to do. She just doesn't like that he doesn't even ask her what her plans are or really show much of any interest in whether she wants to go or not. I don't think he's selfish on purpose, he's just completely clueless and self absorbed.
However, my mother is not exactly easy to get along with. My father can basically do no right. She's mad that he doesn't talk when we're eating, but any conversation he attempts gets shot down. And she'll pick fights and set him up to do something wrong which gives her an excuse to yell at him. And they'll both complain to me.
All that in of itself would be bad enough. A vacation like that is not fun, believe me. Any attempt at fun is effectively sucked out. I swear, the most fun I had was trying out a gun range while I was there. Very safe and proper with an instructer right there the whole time. I shot three different guns and did pretty well for a beginner, I'm told. Think the sight was off though.
Anyways, the universe decided the trip wasn't stressful enough and did something about it. On Saturday, my mother middle finger on her left hand started getting swollen. She didn't say anything until Tuesday. By then it looked pretty nasty. Couldn't find a reason for it, just started swelling up. Went to a walk in clinic and the doctor says infection and give her antibiotics to take. (Even better, the guy puts on the paperwork that it's her toe, really useful when we try to claim this on our travel insurance) Next day, it's worse. It's spread. Her finger next to it and getting swollen and the back of her hand too. To the point we can barely see her knuckles. She's unimpressed with the doctor in Waikiki so we hold off on seeing someone till we get home Friday. Actually technically Saturday since it's about 1am when we finally drive across the border to Canada (we flew into Seattle). We decide to take her to Emergency and I stay with her while my dad takes home the car and unpacks it. After a delightfully long wait, they hook her directly to an IV to give her more direct antibiotics. It's about 3 in the morning now. They want her to come back the next morning around 9 because she needs several more doses and they want to get her on a more reasonable schedule. Which means getting maybe three hours sleep before having to go back.
So next day drop her off, get my dog from the vet and pay a not nearly as bad as I thought it would be but still bad enough bill, and pick her up again. So she doesn't have to keep getting stabbed, they leave the needle in her hand. Her right hand. Meaning both her hands are incapacitated. So much fun. And she still needs to go back probably at least a couple more times. But wait, there's more!
My Dad has a heart valve that doesn't close properly. He sees a doctor and isn't overweight by the furthest stretch of the imagination. Anyways, all Saturday he's feeling chest pains. Took aspirin and they went away, but by the afternoon he decides he's going to emergency because he doesn't like the feel of him. He goes to a different hospital, his heart doctor works out of it. They want to keep him at least six hours for observation.
I get woken up Sunday by my mother who says he's on the phone and I need to write down some things he needs because he has to stay a couple days. Apparently it's a damn good thing he went in or he would have gotten a ride in an ambulance. He was borderline having a heart attack. Luckily, since he went in, they staved it off but they need to keep him. My mom can't write so she has to get me.
Now, my mother still has to go to the other hospital for more antibiotics! And directions are not her strong suit. So I call in to work saying I won't be in so I can take her to both hospitals. And I don't think she should be left alone. And the both hands out of commission doesn't help.
We have to take the bus since the only car we have if my dad's junky old Volvo which is a standard and I can't drive standard. Need to get a pass and I'm out another days pay. Sigh.
Can't tell my sister because it would ruin her honeymoon and she has her own problems with a seasick husband. I know how he feels. She gets here obscenely early Friday and her dinner is Saturday. Hopefully things will have settled down by then. But until then I'm stuck in a delightfully extra stressy situation and I needed to vent. Hence the post. Off to the hospital.
UPDATE: So Doctor's don't seem too concerned. They're gonna do a CAT scan of his arteries tomorrow and he may get out. He doesn't look too bad, especially compared to some of his roomies. Apparently his heart condition is something rather unusual. He's already had someone who's studying to be a cardiologist come listen to his heart and another doctor commented they should have everyone come listen. Ah, to be a sideshow freak. We should charge admission. We suggested that, but the doctor said he wouldn't retire on it. All well.
My mother's hand is better, but the swelling in the finger isn't going down. Doctor is saying that they might have to cut her finger open to drain it. Uh, no. She's gonna see her family doctor first before agreeing to anything like that. Guess we'll see. But she should be fine for tomorrow cause I kinda gotta do the work thing. We shall see.