This blog was set up to keep family and friends updated on my dad's status. This blog is a way for my family to stay connected and hear about my dad's rehabilitation and eventually just hear about visits with dad once he is placed in a long term care facility. I want to use this blog as a way of posting funny and uplifting stories about my dad and I invite you all to share your stories as well! (BTW ignore the About Me section on this blog, I also have a teacher blog that I maintain and the About Me section is for that blog)Dad's History therefore the reason for this blog:
On Friday March 16th, 2012 Dad fell down the stairs outside his home and broke his hip. He had surgery on Sunday March 18th to replace the ball in his hip. We believe the fall may have been preceded by a mild stroke because after the fall Dad was unable to complete basic tasks that had nothing to do with his hip injury. He was unable to feed himself and he had ver poor hand eye coordination. He also suffered muscle weakness in his right leg as well as his left leg even though the right leg was not injured.
He was moved to a rehab center on Friday March 23rd to begin physical, occupational, and speech therapy. Dad was doing very well at the rehab center. He was adjusting well. He discovered his love of fruit cups, chocolate, and soda LOL. All was well for a little over 2 weeks. On Easter Sunday, my son Garrett and I went to visit Dad. As we were walking down the hall we heard him yell, so we rushed to his room. He was sitting in his wheelchair beside his bed and he looked as though he was sleeping, as I moved closer I noticed that he was moaning, I thought he was having a bad dream so I put my hand on his shoulder and called his name. Normally he is a very light sleeper and would wake up right away. He didn't wake up, he continued to moan so I shook him a little harder and called out his name again. It was at this time that he began to drool and convulse. Garrett ran from the room to get help and a barrage of nurses and staff members defended upon the room and we were chased into the hallway. They called an ambulance and dad was transported to the ER. A CT scan was done and it was found that dad had what appeared to be a brain bleed. He was then transferred to another hospital and placed in their Neuro Critical Care unit. He spent 2 days in the critical care unit and it was determined that the fluid was not a brain bleed but a collection of fluid so he was moved to the Neuro Step-down unit. He spent 2 more days in that unit before being transferred to yet another rehab facility (the other one wouldn't take him back because apparently he was too high of a fall risk).
Over the course of the last month we have had a lot of ups and downs with my dad but one thing that my family does well is pull together to get through the tough times. We find things to laugh about to keep ourselves from crying and my sister suggested that we take the time to write down the good times the things that have made us laugh so that when Dad is no longer wit us we can go back to those memories and be able to laugh again. So that is the purpose of this blog. Feel free to comment on any of the posts and share your own funny stories.
Important to know - Dad has Alzheimer's and this blog is by no means a way to make fun of this horrible disease. I hate this disease with every fiber of my being and I pray every day for a cure to be found. With that being said, I have said for a few years now that God has taken this terrible disease and gives us some humor from it to help us get through the tough times. So the stories we will share are by no means making fun of our dad, they are just memories of fun times - as my Dad always says (when we are laughing and having a good time) "WE'RE HAVING FUN NOW!!"
P.S. The title of this blog is "Damn Right!" because that is my dad's trademark phrase. Anytime we ask him if he's tough or if he is working hard or anything about him getting better his response is "Damn right!"
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