The Day After (Stroke)

It has been four days now since my dad has been hospitalized. He has lost use of his left leg and while can move his left arm he has no strength in his left hand at all.

The stress that this whole thing places on families is amazing. But there is one thing for sure. Nothing brings a family together like a stroke or a hear attack. I'm sure other catastrophic diseases tend to do the same thing.

The big issue is that of denial of what's really going on. My dad seems to feel like he's ready to go home. He can barely walk or for that matter feed himself. It takes an experienced nurse or two to move him and change him. I suppose there is a lot more we'll have to learn from this episode.

My mom is really being affected, in one way, she's sleeping better at home because he's being taken care at the hospital. The second thing is the fear of having to take care of him when he returns. As I mentioned before it's a very difficult and physical thing to do. Not having dealt with this issue before, we'll have to pull together and talk to the hospital staff that have done a wonderful job in taking care of my dad but in reality of the whole family.

Today we again had some light conversation, we listened to some classical music together, laughed  and left on the board the hospital has in the room the faces that are allowed in the room. This is allowed :-)  This is not allowed :-( nor this one ;-{ ,  nor this other one :-[  Silence is Ok, there is no need to force the conversation.

It has been great with all the friends that have come by. It certainly makes time fly. Hopefully my dad will be patient enough to allow for the hospital staff to do more of their job. I suppose when independence is taken away from us, we all react the same way.

Life goes on, the reality is that humanity spends its youth ruining their old age. When will we learn?

My Parents ll

I'm still very fortunate to have both my parents around. I have been sharing stories with them and getting together once a week.

Today (11/23/2009) my Dad experienced a stroke. Although he seems to be doing better, having recovered use of his left arm and left leg, we'll see how he does in the coming days. This is the second stroke in about two weeks span.

I'll be visiting him again tomorrow at the hospital in a regular room since he has been moved from the emergency ward to a regular patient room. I have lots of fond memories and need to make sure to get as many more as I can while things are stable.

Another day in the life of my parents.

Land of the lost

I was reading an article on technology. In conversing with others about it, a thought was brought out. The promise of technology was to give us more time to do the things we enjoy.

Imagine having to go get your water out of well every day.

Indoor plumbing beats having to get out really early in the morning to fetch water. I grew up with indoor plumbing but no hot water. We used to fill a tub and warm it by leaving out in the sun. A quick bath with Sun warmed water felt good! Showers were cold out of the shower head, that took a little more will but didn't have to go down to the river either!

In any case you can probably think about other things like indoor heating, your stove for cooking, DVD's and more!

Communications are also another thing, how easy it is for us to get in touch with practically anyone across the globe. Instantly at that! I remember writing letters to my Grandmother and Aunt in another country. E-mail has
taken over, and there are all the social media avenues available online as well as our super duper smart phones.

It's true that we now have more free time in our hands. It also seems that we have filled the time with more things to do, so use of our time has to be managed lest we spend all our time online and even perhaps addicted to electronic stimuli.

Being extremely busy then distracts us. Case in point, I went to the versa teller to deposit some cash. I drove up to the machine and without hesitation pressed the onscreen button. Out pops a Visa Check Card! The person before me drove off in a hurry, and forgot to get his card. Now I'm looking for a place to deposit the card, maybe the bank has a lost card receptacle to place them. No such luck. I'm thinking, while I deposit my cash maybe the person will realize his mistake and track back.

I was having trouble with the cash machine. It would not take my cash. Ended up getting out the car, parked and went in to the walk in machine. It's about 8:30PM. I'm getting a little nervous by now. Previous card holder nowhere in sight! After I finished depositing my money, I called the Bank's customer service to report the lost card.

I used my iPhone of course, and finally talked to a bank representative. It seemed that the whole affair took for ever. Waiting with elevator music spewing out of my phone! See what I mean about extra time being filled! The unfortunate gentleman before me probably did not realize that he had left his card or lost it until the next day. I sure hope the bank gives him a courtesy call because the amount of time he'll spend looking for his card and back tracking will certainly fill some of his free time. Not to mention the stress caused by fears of someone actually using his card to buy things.

Whew!

Technology can be a blessing and a curse. We are in such a hurry to get things done and invariably something will slow us down. Maybe that's what we need, slow down a little. Perhaps we'll not be so lost all the time.

Drowning in bits and bytes!

Wait it a minute! I have to text message or call some friends and find out when we can get together. Where's my phone?