My dad is in the hospital.

My dad had a flare-up of diverticulitis. It all sounded routine, but now the GI specialist wants to possibly remove part of his colon tomorrow morning. He’s at a hospital about two and a half hours away from me, and my mom is waiting in the ICU waiting room tonight.

My wife wants me to stay here. It’s the first Christmas our two year old daughter really gets to experience. My wife’s dad is here, so I’d be leaving the three of them to go up to the hospital.

I think I need to go. My dad is 64, and colorectal surgery isn’t exactly foolproof. I’m about to spend Christmas Eve night and Christmas morning in an ICU waiting room. Oh joy.

Go see your father. I’m sure you will have many, many Christmases with your daughter. You might miss the moment with your daughter (that she really won’t remember anyway) but if there is a camera or two in the house, have your wife take pictures/videos. You will have many more opportunities with them next Christmas.

Travel safely. You are the most important person there is if you remain safe for those you are about to see as well as those who remain at home. And good thoughts all around.

Yes, go see your pops! Not tryna be a Debbie downer but god forbid what if that’s the last time you see him?

Please go. If you don’t, you’ll always regret it. You need to go.

Q

Chances are that your dad will be fine. Bowel resections actually are fairly routine to the extent that surgery can be routine. However, I agree that going to see him is the right thing to do. It’s sad to have to miss Christmas with your kid, but your mom could probably use some company and support.

My sister got through this, but go see him! And here’s hoping it’s the Christmas you’ll talk about for years to come, bowels and hospital food! LOL Can you get a few shots of the kidlet to take to him? Maybe it would cheer him up, if he’s up to looking at them.

I once spent a good part of Easter Sunday at the hospital when my father had a heart attack. He’s still with us, thirty years later, but I’m glad I was there.

Speaking as someone who has a father with a frequent customer card with the surgery staff at the local hospital…go. It’ll most likely be ok…but it’s soooo much better to be there and not be needed, then the other way around. I’ve never once regretted spending the day in ICU with my Dad.
-D/a

Go. I understand that your wife may want the first Christmas that your daughter might possibly remember to be important, but chances are, she (your daughter) won’t remember. And in the very very off chance that something goes wrong (which it totally WILL NOT), it’ll be important that you are there.

They want to do surgery on Christmas morning? I see why you want to be there. On the other hand, I would probably strongly urge my spouse to wait until morning to drive there, for safety at least.

Methinks you need to be there with your dad.

And here’s wishing him a speedy and relatively painless recovery.

They ended up doing surgery at 11:00 last night (Christmas Eve). They took out 8 inches of his colon, and he’s still recovering. He’s intubated, so he can’t talk, but he has been alert when he wakes up. He’ll have a colostomy bag for a while, which he didn’t want, but he’d choose life with it over death without it every time.

It’s been scary. He’s not out of the woods yet - his kidneys aren’t fully functional yet, his potassium is too high, and his BP is too low. We’re playing the waiting game now.

I got back home around 1:00 this afternoon and slept for a couple of hours. I’ll probably make the drive back up to the hospital Tuesday or Wednesday afternoon.

Well…so far so good. Here’s hoping he continues to improve.

I can tell you that two or three weeks ago, when my Dad had his prostate removed, he was REALLY sluggish and out of it. Even last week there were days he was completely miserable. Tonight, he came over for a birthday dinner, and was his normal cheery self.

Time helps a TON with recovery.
-D/a

Thanks for the update, it’s good to hear he’s awake and alert at least.

Take care of yourself too, eat sensibly and get your rest. Hanging around a hospital can take it out of one, I know!

Yeah. On the practical side - hospitals have a lot of sick people in them. The hospital I end up hanging out at a lot has dispensers all over the place for anti-bacterial gel. I use that stuff when I’m there, and am conscious of when I’ve touch things and if I’m “clean”.
*Side note - this training served me well on a recent cruise… At least, I didn’t get sick. So it didn’t hurt. :slight_smile:

-D/a

Sorry that I came to this late - sending out healing thoughts to your dad!

I just spoke with my mom. Dad is recovering much faster than expected, and may be moved out of ICU tomorrow.

They took him off the ventilator, took him off one of the blood pressure meds, removed the arterial line from his wrist, and moved the port from his groin to his shoulder. He’s eating ice chips and talking.

The first thing he did was apologize to my mom for “putting everyone through all of this” :smack: Then he asked for a Mountain Dew (request denied for now!).

He’ll have to stay with my uncle for at least a week once released from the hospital, but will hopefully be able to move in with us for the rest of his recovery. It’s not home for him and my mom (they’re here in Arizona visiting from Michigan), but it’ll work.

That’s excellent to hear. Merry Christmas and a better New Year to you and yours.

Good news! Keep us updated if you can.

Definitely good news…when he starts making jokes, it normally means he’s feeling human. :slight_smile:
-D/a