A year ago today, September 18, we nearly lost our dad. He fell from a chair, had severe head trauma, was in the intensive care unit for 12 days, had his head and chest almost opened, was bedridden for quite a while and was getting his sustenance from a tube inserted through his nose (nasogastric intubation). It was a scary time to be a daughter, a wife, a brother or a sister and I believe it was a scary time to be him too.
It was the fault of the rat, that bloody rat scurrying in the ceiling. In the dead of the night, when sleep's elusive, that sound accompanied him. He didn't like its company and set to end it the following day. When he was sure that trap did its work, he HAD TO remove it. He got a plastic barstool and set it atop a wooden chair. Got my mum to assist him and the next thing she knows, he's on the floor with blood gushing from his head. He was unconscious for a few minutes. They went to the ER, got a CT scan and just like that, he's in the ICU. He is not entirely faultless too. He's almost 70 years old and has weak legs because of gout. He should have known better, especially since this is not his first fall. Thank God he finally learned his lesson this time.
The doctor said there's a 5-day critical period. If he gets out of it alive, then chances of recovery are higher. During those critical days, his behavior changed. A hemorrhage in his brain was causing it. The doctor was ready to do brain surgery but Dr. EO, my sister, asked for 24 more hours of observation. He would need two surgeries in case, and she's afraid that a surgery would do more harm than good. He did get past that 24-hour grace period, and he did get past that 5-day critical period. But that's not to be the end of it. During his confinement, in a regular room, he contracted pneumonia. His pulmonologist already wanted to intubate him but Dr. EO again said not yet. They did round-the-clock suctioning, hiring a 24-hour private nurse to do that. Dr. EO stayed with him as mum was sent home to rest. It worked. He won against pneumonia. We will always thank my sister, Dr. EO, for being brave and for doing all the medical decisions for us.
Then he was sent home. We hired a private nurse to care for him at home and administer his medications. Eventually, he tried sitting up. Then he would demand to be taken outside of the room, then to his little garden. Then he tried small steps with his walker and soon after he was walking slowly without it. Then he was driving again, in less than six months! We can't say he got away unscathed. He has memory lapses and he knows it's because of that. If there's one positive thing that happened to him because of this, it would be that the accident somehow erased some of his pains. He's been suffering from gout and arthritis and his joints are forever acting up. Dr. MO, my brother-in-law, explained that it's possible. We jokingly asked him if we can hit our dad again and which part of the brain to hit, he said it only happens in the movies.
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| May 2010. My family, 8 months after my dad's accident. Eldest sister and hubby not in the pic. |
It only happens in the movies, or to other people... This cliche is so true. Never thought it would happen to us. But it did. And we were not prepared for it. But then again, who would be prepared for it? Everything seemed to have happened in the distant past. Hard to believe it's only been a year since it happened. Looking at my dad now, you wouldn't think he almost left us. Funny how incidents like this make us realize again how much we love our parents. As for me, I know I love my parents more. I know I love my family more. We've never been an expressive family but I know, we all love each other dearly and will always be there for each other.
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