Dad

My Mom called last Tuesday, in tears and near hysteria.  She had been at the hospital with my Dad all night, after he collapsed and had to be rushed in by ambulance.  They didn't know what was wrong, but it wasn't looking good.

By Wednesday morning he was being rushed into emergency surgery and I was booking a plane ticket. Of course it's January in Nova Scotia and a big storm was just starting.  I don't know how much snow we ended up getting, but flights out were cancelled from noon Wednesday till noon Thursday.  Luckily my flight at 4:00 Thursday afternoon was only delayed by 10 minutes. 

I rented a car and drove myself from Toronto to my parents house, about a 1 hour drive (we won't talk about how I went East instead of West when I came out of the airport and how much time that added to the drive). Since I had been travelling all afternoon, I had no idea what to expect.  The last update I had gotten was that they were keeping him in a medically induced coma after the surgery, which found a twisted colon that was necrotic and had to be removed.  They were able to stitch it back together and avoid the need for a colostomy bag. 

As I approached the house I had all sorts of thoughts going through my head - if there were cars in the drive way that would mean that he had died.  If the lights were off that would mean that Mom hadn't made it home from the hospital yet. If, if and more ifs.

The lights were on and Mom was there.  They had reversed the coma and things were looking better.

Mom and I spent the next few days up at the hospital where each day brought more progress.  Baby steps, but progress none the less.  I was able to stay until Monday before I had to fly home.  Leaving Mom was the hardest part.  They have been married for 45 years and love each other so much.  She is lost, all alone in a big house on a big farm.  We don't know yet how long he will need to stay in the hospital, but it will be at least another week.  I did leave knowing that Mom has so many wonderful friends there, looking out for her and helping out when she needs it.  But it really is hard being so far away.