Chapter 5

Dad recovered at home for the next week or so before radiation on the brain began, but on the Wednesday morning when he was to start radiation I went to see him and could tell he was not right.  He looked very pale, almost grey and he was having trouble standing, he was very uneasy on his feet.  I called my mom at the shop and told her she better come home and stay with him until they had to leave, and then I left.  I went home and the pit in my stomach just grew.. Next thing I knew I got the call from mom, again I felt like time stood still as she spoke.  I felt like I was moving in slow motion as I ran out to Mike in the shop to tell him that my dad had collapsed.  The drive to their house felt like it took forever, but the sound of mike’s tires squeeling as he turned corners, and the sound of his engine screaming as he stepped on the gas trying to get us there as soon as possible.  As we drove towards Queen street I could see Andy racing towards us with his 4 way flashers blinking in my eyes I swear I could see the look on his face as he turned in front of us and we both raced down the street towards mom and dad’s house doing speeds in excess of 80km/hr I’m sure.  Our truck came to rest half way up the drive and Andy’s truck in the middle of the front lawn.  When we ran through the front door of the house dad was laying in the front hallway on the floor.  He was alert and could talk and tell us that he was just feeling dizzy and lightheaded.  Ok, so this wasn’t so bad, he probably just hadn’t eaten and was worried about his first treatment, right? Nothing else could happen, this was just something as simple as that.  As we were discussing what to do, the doorbell rang and a neighbor from down the street who was a nurse stood in the doorway.  “I seen you both come racing up the street and run into the house” she said, “I knew something had happened and I just had to come and see if I could help at all”.  She looked down to see dad laying on the floor and bent over him to speak.  She asked him how he was feeling, and she grab his wrist to take his pulse.  She could tell something was off, so the decision was made to call 911.  Here we go again, it was as if I was reliving the same event that had taken place just a few short weeks ago. 

There was another frantic call made to me about dad, there was another ambulance ride, there was hope, and fear and worry about what we would hear next.  At this point, we were still just starting and I felt like I couldn’t take anymore.  This was ruining my life.  My whole being was consumed with my dad’s disease.  I couldn’t eat, or sleep without thinking about it, or even run simple errands in town without someone stopping me to ask how he was, or how my mom was.  I wasn’t sure exactly what people expected me to say, I was getting so tired of explaining the events of the day over and over again to each and every person who I seen.  It came to the point that I wanted to avoid the general public all together.  Simple trips to the post office turned into me sitting in my car waiting until there was no one I knew in sight and then making a mad dash with my head down in to pick up my mail and then back to the car.  This had become my life. 

When we arrived at the hospital dad was already in the ER and when we were finally able to speak to a doctor we were told that his oxygen and blood pressure were dangerously low, and his heart rate was extremely high.  Blood Tests had shown the doctors that his kidneys were not working properly and his liver counts were way off.  The day could only get worse as the doctor informed us that this could be a sign that the cancer is spreading and more test would have to be run to rule this out.  He was admitted into the ICU and monitored closely for the next few days as more testing was done.  As we sat at his bedside in ICU, it reminded me of being in the same exact room just about a year earlier with Mike’s dad.  He had suffered from heart problems and was in ICU in critical condition.  To come full circle in less than a year first being there with my father in law and now my own father, I couldn’t help but think that Dave had made it out, and so would my dad. 

Testing showed that dad’s gall bladder was infected and he needed surgery to have a drain installed to let the infection drain out.  Sounded easy enough, dad was by trade an electrician and knew the plumbing world as second nature, so he was confident in what the doctors were telling him.  This was a minor plumbing issue. 

So off to London we went so that dad could have this procedure done.  He was admitted into University hospital and a drain was installed into his gall bladder on Friday August 6, 2010.  The procedure went off without a hitch, and we could all breathe easy for the moment.  Mike and I set off to grand bend to watch his dad compete in the Stratford days racing event at the Grand Bend Motor plex.  We camped over on the Friday night, and I will admit we had a good time.  It was nice to go back to “normal” life for a minute, and enjoy my husband and children.  On Saturday morning, I had planned to drive to London and have a visit with my dad, but after receiving a call from my brother to say that my dad had a bad night, and a critical care team had to be called into his room during the night because he was in distress again my feelings of “normal” life faded away.  The drive to London was long and my mind raced with thoughts of what I would see when we arrived there.  I walked into his room and he was sitting in a chair with a tube coming out of the bottom of his gown.  There was black fluid running through the tube, and I was told this was the infection draining out.  So I guess it was doing it’s job.  Medication was helping the infection to clear out, and dad was starting to come around.  He spent a few weeks in London, and was eventually moved back to Stratford on Aug. 12. 

A petscan is a very detailed scan of the body which can see things that a normal cat scan can not.  This procedure was something dad needed to have to see if in fact the cancer had spread to anywhere else in the body.  So on Friday Aug. 13 dad went back to St. Joe’s hospital in London to have a petscan.

The weekend would bring new worry to our minds as we slowly watched my dad’s appearance turn a touch of yellow.  I am no doctor, but I do know from previous experience in the family, that this is derived from problems in the liver.  A surgeon in Stratford had a look at the drain to see if it was working properly and apparently had turned it off.  So for the course of the weekend dad’s body was filling back up with infection.  I had to wonder when this poor man would catch a break.  We start with a brain tumor, find out it’s lung cancer, throw an infected gall bladder in there, and now his liver function is being questioned.  My God, what exactly did he do to deserve all this?