ups and downs

Hello,

Dad was admitted to hospital yesterday morning suddenly. He was having trouble breathing and then when he went to the toilet couldn't move and called my mom to call 911. Mom said three female paramedics (she described one as an amazon) arrived and revived dad, but they had to do a lot of work, so the doctors have decided to keep him in hospital for a bit. He was just about to be moved from the ICU to the AMA yesterday when mom and I arrived to see him around 3:30.

His doctor's name is Jim Nishikawa, so I wrote his name in my very childish kanji on the whiteboard under the English version . When Dr. N. arrived, he looked at it and said, "I'm Canadian and I can't read that" but later gave Dad heck when Dad admitted that he didn't like sushi. Dad was in good spirits and wanting to go home soon, but we suspect he'll be in hospital longer than he'd like this time because the paramedics had to do a lot of work on him this time.

Dad had indulged in a lot of salty restaurant food lately and that seems to have been the culprit. His bladder was enlarged and he had to be given diuretics and although he refused the catheter at first, accepted it thanks to the calm and logical demeanor of the nurse.

My sister is also in town, so we're working on healing some old family wounds. It's good timing. Although my dad has come through a lot, emergency visits to the hospital are becoming more frequent. Mom said she'd just paid the bill for the last ambulance the day before yesterday.

Both kids are doing great. They both seem happy to do nothing but relax and play on their tech or watch TV -- but we do drag them out to the pool at my aunt's, which they also love. My husband has taught my girl how to play Hanafuda, so they had a tournament last night. My boy had an issue with my girl last night about a missing toy, but that passed and all is well again this morning.

 I caught up on some work last night and had some alone time -- it's exhausting to be worrying about everyone -- and now my dad, too. On the other hand, it's a relief that the overwhelming feeling of doom I've had lately may have had a basis in reality. As I've said in previous blogs, I do feel deeply connected to my Dad and there are times where I'll feel sick and then my mom will call and tell me he's in hospital.

Everyone describes the kids as "good" and "beautiful", which is nice. I wonder if I should stop telling them what it's really like at home. I hate whitewashing, but maybe people don't really want to know the reality!

We leave Ottawa on Tuesday.I'll be going to the hospital every day to visit Dad until we leave, so won't be making any more appointments to hang out with friends I'm afraid. Keep us in your prayers!

Thanks, as always, for reading this meandering blog today.
xo
M