My dad had a stroke last Thursday night. Actually, he had three strokes--two "mini" ones while at home and a third, more serious one shortly after he and my mom arrived at the hospital.
My mom tells me that if they hadn't been at the hospital when the third one hit, he likely would have died.
I don't know enough about strokes to be able to tell you how severe this last one was. Regardless, it was bad enough that he had to have surgery to remove the clot that caused the stroke. Also, it seems as though he suffered some amount of trauma/paralysis to his left side. His mind seems OK--he hasn't suffered any memory loss, nor has he lost the ability to communicate or understand language--which is a miracle in and of itself, but he's hardly in the clear at this point. He's still in the ICU and we're unsure as to when he will be moved out of it--or when he will be discharged (likely to some sort of therapy/treatment center until he's strong enough to return home).I've been devastated by this surprising turn of events, as have my mom and brother. Ever since I heard the news, I've been alternating between bawling my eyes out and feeling like a zombie.
My original plan was to keep this to myself, and to continue updating this blog as I always do. This morning, though, I decided it would be best to take a few days off--especially since David (my husband) and I will be flying home late tonight and the next few days are sure to be filled with trips to see my dad, phone calls to family and friends and hopefully a bit of rest.
I'm not expecting to stay away for long. In fact, I plan on returning to some sort of normalcy--on this blog, at least--next week (thanks in large part to a slew of posts that were written before all of this happened).
Anyway, I just wanted all of you to know so that you won't worry that the lack of posts over the next few days means that something has happened to me or that something is happening to this blog.
Also, I'd greatly appreciate it if any of you would be able to spend even one second today or tomorrow or whenever you're able to send positive energy/thoughts/vibes my dad's way.
22 comments:
Bryan, that's scary stuff. I'm definitely sending positive thoughts in your Dad's direction. I hope he has a speedy recovery. Take care of yourself!
All the very best, sir. I hope dearly all goes well, and that you can find the strength that you need.
xx
Thinking strong and positive healthy thoughts your dads way. Take care of yourself and breathe deeply.
I am terrible sorry to hear this. A 1000000 hugs to you and your family.
Oh, Bryan. When real life is this large, don't you ever worry about disappointing us! You go and be with them, and don't even give us a passing thought until this is better. I'm sorry that this happened, and we'll definitely be praying for you and your family tonight--I'm putting you up on the prayer wall at church.
Hoping for the best and sending all my love!
I'm really sorry to hear that, Bryan. :( Gaming and blogging is of little importance at times like this. I really hope your dad makes a full recovery as soon as possible and that you and your family are okay as well. Many happy thoughts sent in the direction of you all...
Don't worry about the blog, we'll be here waiting for you!
My best wishes to you and your family. xx
Sorry to hear about your Dad, hopefully he will have a full and healthy recovery.
My thoughts are with you in these times.
I hope your dad pulls through. I think family time now is much more important than any videogames. I hope everything turns out ok for you and your family.
I wish you and your family all the best in this, Bryan! I hope sharing this with us ends up helping, too, I'd feel the same way you would in this situation. Take all the time you need to deal with this, we'll still be here when you get back!
I`m really sorry to hear that Bryan, I hope your father pulls through this. I will send whatever positive energy I can his way. Take care of yourself too, I can imagine this must be quite a devastating thing to be going through.
Best, Sean
Thank you all. I really appreciate it -- more than you can know.
As horrible as this situation is, I'm glad David and I can be here for my mom and brother (and that they can be here for us, too). I think my mom needed us here especially, as she's been shouldering this burden almost completely on her own since my dad had his strokes last Thursday. She's an extremely tough woman, but even extremely tough people can crumble a bit when things this devastating happen.
Anyway, things are still very up and down for my dad. I think if all he had to deal with were the strokes, he'd already be on the road to recovery (which can mean many things in the case of stroke, admittedly). Unfortunately, he's had some problems with bleeding on the brain, which continues to complicate matters. Along with that, he's weak, in some pain because he's literally been laying in bed for a week, and tired because he's woken up every hour to make sure his brain is still functioning well. As you can probably imagine, it would be hard for anyone to to recover from three strokes and surgery while dealing with all of that.
So, for the time being we're just going to be there for him. He really liked seeing David and I yesterday afternoon, and we of course enjoyed seeing him, too. I was scared to death of it beforehand, to tell you the truth, as I wasn't entirely sure what to expect, but in the end all that mattered to any of us was that we were all together in the same room, holding hands, talking, etc.
Here's hoping today ends better than it began and that today is the last day he has any bad news.
Thanks again for your energy, thoughts, prayers -- anything you can offer. I appreciate it all, and I'm sure my dad does, too.
I'm sorry to hear about your dad. I'll be praying for him to get well soon.
There worry about your blog. We all understand the emergency and we all will still be here when you come back.
- The Girl Gamer
your family is in my prayers. Great post. Take care of yourself.
Positive thinking. Wishing for the best.
I'm really sorry to hear about your dad. I'm glad you share this with us and I hope this at least help making you feel less like a zombie. Please don't worry about the blog and do what you have to do.
I hope your dad will get well soon, and you take care of yourself as well! :)
Thank you, Gamer Girl, Punipen and the rest of you. I really appreciate all of your comments and thoughts. I'm hanging in there, as is my husband, mom, brother and dad. I'll try to publish an update tonight, just in case anyone is curious. Thanks again.
Oh I'm so sorry to hear about this. And yet even now you're wanting to make sure WE don't worry!
My thoughts are with you and yours, we'll see you soon.
That's terrible, it goes without saying I hope he gets better. I remember when my mom had a heart attack last year I was a complete wreck that night waiting to find out what was going on. Luckily she ended up being fine, but I know what it's like.
Thank you, coolpowers. I very much appreciate the positive thoughts. I'm feeling much better this week than last, and I believe my mom feels a lot better this week, too. The positive steps my dad is taking are small ones, but even those are better than no steps at all (or steps backward). Here's hoping that forward momentum continues from here on out.
Thank you, too, chaosyoshimage. I'm sorry to hear your mom had a heart attack, but I'm glad to hear she's going better now. I'm hopeful I'll be able to say the same about my dad a year from now.
BTW, I just want to say "I'm sorry" to the rest of you for not replying to individual comments before today. I was just too overwhelmed last week to do so. Just know that I very much appreciated everything all of you said. Thanks again :)
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