I've been home from school for the past few days...
Long-story-short-
My Dad started feeling sick on Friday morning, and as the weekend progressed, he was suffering from severe stomach pain. He couldn't breathe deeply or lay down flat to rest without extreme amounts of pain.
For anyone who knows my Dad, he's a big strong man that is very rarely 'down.' So, when he expressed to my Mom that something might really be wrong, she rushed him to the Emergency Room right away.
X-Rays, blood work and CT scans were all preformed in the ER and he was told that he had pneumonia with another 'p' word that explains the severe pain he was having. He was admitted to his very own room in the hospital, where they pumped him full of antibiodics and fluids, let him eat and rest, and provided him with enough pain relief so that he could actually get some sleep!
I was able to visit with him twice in the ER, and Zig and I took care of things at their house. We went and turned on lights so that my Mom wouldn't have to come home to a dark house, and we made a million phone calls to the family and the girls at his office - so that everything was taken care of for him.
I decided very quickly that I would need to take time off to stay home with Brooke on Monday, since my Mom takes care of her during the day. Her energy needed to be focused on my Dad and getting him home and comfortable again. Not to mention the fact that Brooke has developed a horrible little cold of her own...that's the last thing I wanted my Mom to have to deal with on top of my sick father!
It was almost a blessing in disguise that I was home with Brooke yesterday - her cold seemed to get worse as the day went on! If you remember last year this time, Brooke was diagnosed to be an RSV baby and we were told to watch for certain things every time she gets sick. We've been so incredibly blessed and haven't had to deal with many other illnesses with her until now. All weekend and yesterday, she was congested and coughing, but not fevered at all. Zig and I broke out all of our gadgets - the humidifier, the vapor plug-ins, the baby Vicks, the thermometer, and the booger-sucker!
I spent my day yesterday, curled up with her on the chair, singing songs, practicing new words, reading books, and watching Baby Einstein!
Meanwhile, my Mom spent the day with my Dad in his hospital room. It didn't look like my Dad would be coming home for another day or two, so my Mom was planning on stopping by my house when she left the hospital so that I could swing into school to prepare my room for yet another substitute. When she arrived, she told me that my grandfather had just been rushed to the ER too! SERIOUSLY!!!???
Apparently, he was very sick to his stomach, weak, and experiencing some of the same pain that my Dad was feeling! His 90-year-old body isn't nearly as strong as my Dad's, so my Mom seemed very worried!
When I left my Dad's hospital room after a visit last night, we still hadn't heard whether or not my Pap would be staying or going home - and I still have no information this morning...
So, I'm home again today with Brooke - since my Mom needs the freedom to tend to my dad AND my Pap... I think I might be more worried about her than anyone else!
I'm praying for my Dad's return home today, for some good news about my grandfather, for my precious baby girl that just feels yucky, for some rest and peace for my Mom, and for my students at school - they better behave while Mrs. Wray is gone!
They say bad things happen in three's - my dad, Brooke's illness, and now H. Ray!
Goodness, LORD! Take it easy on us!