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Happy new year.
Things got interesting, in the ancient chinese curse sense of the word, after christmas. On the 26th, about 4am, my dad woke up me and my mom because he was having chest pains and shortness of breath. Called the 24 hour line to his health plan, they listened for about 30 seconds, asked a couple of questions, and told us to call 911 for an ambulance.
This is mostly just to document things for my own memories, so don't feel any obligation to read any further.
Bunch of flashing lights later, dad got carried by the ambulance over to the hospital. Went over and sat with him in the ER while they ran a bunch of tests and decided to admit him to the hospital. In the ER, the computer in the EKG machine said he had atrial fibrillation, but when the cardiologist reviewed it later that day, he said that it was not that, but a slightly unusual normal rhythm. So they kept him overnight for observation while waiting for all the various test results to come back.
The next day, everything came back as pretty normal for an 83 year old man, so they sent him home for following up with his regular doc. Since then, he is having erratic days, some days he is great, some days terrible, some days so-so.
I went to boston for first night, saw the ice sculptures, saw the three competing groups of demonstrators in copley square, watch the parade and then the early fireworks. I was cold and footsore by then, so hopped back on the subway and got my car and drove out to the bowling thing in lowell. Ate a late supper of bowling alley food, and socialized a bit, but I was getting drowsy, so decided to head back home and sleep. Was home and in bed before midnight.
Today, the first, took mom for her first time driving in traffic after four years of not driving. Unfortunately, the CVS did not have the prescription ready in time, so had to wait until after sunset to get it. Mom drove home, but did not do so well in the dark. Drove slowly enough that some impatient person called the cops on us and they pulled us over as we were almost home. Cop suggested not driving at night, and mom said that she didn't want to drive at night.
Doctors appointment for dad tomorrow, and I've got a bunch of chores around the house that mom needs doing. I fear that if dad's health stays at this level, I'm going to have to do a lot more stuff for mom and dad. Things like shopping and so on. Will probably eat a lot of my spare time and energy. Oh well.
This is mostly just to document things for my own memories, so don't feel any obligation to read any further.
Bunch of flashing lights later, dad got carried by the ambulance over to the hospital. Went over and sat with him in the ER while they ran a bunch of tests and decided to admit him to the hospital. In the ER, the computer in the EKG machine said he had atrial fibrillation, but when the cardiologist reviewed it later that day, he said that it was not that, but a slightly unusual normal rhythm. So they kept him overnight for observation while waiting for all the various test results to come back.
The next day, everything came back as pretty normal for an 83 year old man, so they sent him home for following up with his regular doc. Since then, he is having erratic days, some days he is great, some days terrible, some days so-so.
I went to boston for first night, saw the ice sculptures, saw the three competing groups of demonstrators in copley square, watch the parade and then the early fireworks. I was cold and footsore by then, so hopped back on the subway and got my car and drove out to the bowling thing in lowell. Ate a late supper of bowling alley food, and socialized a bit, but I was getting drowsy, so decided to head back home and sleep. Was home and in bed before midnight.
Today, the first, took mom for her first time driving in traffic after four years of not driving. Unfortunately, the CVS did not have the prescription ready in time, so had to wait until after sunset to get it. Mom drove home, but did not do so well in the dark. Drove slowly enough that some impatient person called the cops on us and they pulled us over as we were almost home. Cop suggested not driving at night, and mom said that she didn't want to drive at night.
Doctors appointment for dad tomorrow, and I've got a bunch of chores around the house that mom needs doing. I fear that if dad's health stays at this level, I'm going to have to do a lot more stuff for mom and dad. Things like shopping and so on. Will probably eat a lot of my spare time and energy. Oh well.