Dad

Today was trying.

While working on conferences over the phone with my teaching partner S, my phone beeped several times. My caller ID screen was not working so I didn't answer the beep. Well I switched phones and sure enough I had another beep. It was Dad. I clicked over and he asked if I was still planning on coming over today. We had spoken around 10am and I had told him that I would be over around lunch time. We would have lunch together and he'd have his shower and prepare for the tests he has to endure on Wednesday (nuclear stress test) . When I spoke with him at 10 he sounded fine. At 12:30 when he called me he sounded different. He said he was having a hard time catching his breath. I told him I'd be over but first I was going to have T go up and check on him. I called her asked her to head upstairs and that I'd be over in 10 minutes. She called me right away and said he looked bad and thought we should get him to the ER. 911 was called and we spend the rest of the day in the ER. His 02 sats were down at home but recovered nicely once he was on oxygen at the hospital. I think he must have been scared but he didn't really remember how or why he was at the hospital. They ran tests and everything came out ok. No blood clots, nothing on the chest xray, heart test came back good and the final determination was that he had mucous blocking his airway for a time that caused his oxygen to fall. Now he is home with new meds for his COPD that has gone untreated until now. I hope this treatment will help him be more comfortable. We'll be going to the local ENT tomorrow to be checked out and have made the decision not to go forward with the surgery. Seeing Dad in the hospital today solidified that decision for me. We'll talk to Dad's primary care physician to see what our next steps will entail. Please pray for us as this will be a difficult road.