There are those moments when something goes wrong and you think nothing could possibly get worse. Well everything continues to happen and keeps getting worse.
Let us start last Friday. I came home from work to the news that my husband had been layed off from his job. Well that sucks, but at least he's got a severnce package until mid January.
Saturday we go ahead and have our scheduled Christmas/Yule grilling party with our friends because whilst we were a tad bit depressed we'd been planning it for weeks and it was great to see all our friends. We did have quite a smashing good time. Bad news on that night was that it's official, a store run by some friends of mine is closing up as it's not being profitable enough. Always just sad news.
Sunday I don't remember much about to be completely honest. I know I read a bit of a book, worked a bit on my DMG manga project (which has a next week deadline OMG). I believe we did some shopping and then we had a really nice big family dinner my dad cooked. It has been so long since he cooked stead and gravy (everyone's classic favorite meal). Bad news of Sunday was letting my friend Kelly know that Logan was layed off and apparently her husband found out Friday his division he work for is being sold off so he may be out of a job soon as well.
Monday I was off work and enjoyed my day off. Did a little DMG work in the morning then went to go get my friend Jasmine and we went up to Denton to visit with Kelly for a bit then we headed on up to Baubles & Frills, our friends shop that's closing. Bought a few things, mainly a wig for my newest doll. I ended up picking up a dollzone Lankui from Denver Doll when they posted them for sale. I swear something stink about Monday but I just don't remember. I just have to say I seriously regret so harshly being gone so much of Monday. Came home stayed up till about 1 or 2am working on manga.
Was awoken Tuesday morning to my mother beating on the bedroom door asking my husband to go wait outside for the ambulence. She woke up to find my dad sitting on the floor yelling at her but not speaking clearly. Paramedics picked him up (it was quite a task as my father is a rather large guy, and really hard to watch) and took him to the hospital downtown. We all rushed on over afterwards. I called my brother (the local one) and we all met down at the hospital. Spent pretty much the whole day there. Came home for a few hours to get things for my mom so she could stay the night. My dad suffered a stroke. He is paralyzed on his right side and cannot clearly speak.
Went to work Wednesday and find out a coworker (mind you I didn't know her very well) passed away over the weekend. I worked my day, told my tale becuase people can tell quite obviously with me when I'm not okay. Went to see Dad later that night. They had moved him to his own room and set him up as best they can. On the way back home my husband informs me of the news he received from his father. The cancer is kicking his butt and the chemo they had him on has done more harm than good. At current he has 30-90 days....
Work has been a nightmare all week by the way. Thursday was a day of no bad news. I worked, then went to the hospital again and Daddy was looking a bit better. Was able to move his right foot around a little and all the hopes and optimism were looking good. When he was in ER Tuesday they did a CT scan which turned up clean, and then Thursday they'd done some sonogram tests which turned up clean. All we could think is that this is great news, but something caused it so they set up an angiogram for Friday.
Worked today, finally getting a little caught up on things. Came home to an amazing dinner cooked by my husband. Went to see dad and the angiogram found the problem. His left carotid artery is blocked. My mom told the news of the results pretty calmly and went about as usual this evening. We had brought her more stuff and brought her some bills that she needed to write checks for and everything. My cousin Jo was there and had been visiting most of the day. We arrived in time to chat with her for a bit and then she was headed off to stay with another local cousin. Since the hospital is downtown and not the greatest part of town mom made Logan walk Jo to her car. During this time Daddy was really active and trying to tell us things and in turn getting really upset when we were having trouble figuring it out. He saw mom doing the bills and thought he forgot to pay something that would be late. Then he was trying to tell us something else and we figured out the location but still couldn't figure out what it was. So after staying a while me and Logan left. After we left he told me what Jo had told him. We both know from Logan's mother's stroke and passing how serious that clogged carotid artery is. Basically as it stands there are only two things they could possibly do to solve this problem, both very high risk for my fathers condition (including age and other health factors). She stated what I also feel to be true that my mother is in denial about the situation and still keeps insisting we're going to do everything possible to get him through this so he can eventually get around himself and come home. As things stand while surgery is an option, it's a risky one and in the end we might have to find a care facility for him where he will spend the rest of what time he has left with us. The reason he's paralyzed on the right side is becuase the lack of blood flow to the left side of the brain. The right side is trying very hard to compensate, but that can only work for so long. When we got home the only bill we could find that might be late is one that had a zero balance. In the place he was specifying there was a box. At one point we thought he was saying something about forgetting a Christmas present and it had something to do with me. What he was telling us was basically "Mom don't forget Melanie's Christmas present. It's on my desk up on the top next to the clock" and that it was okay for me to go find it. So we called mom when we found the box and she verified that the box was my christmas present. I'm feel really horrible that that's something he was worrying about. Mom asked me to bring it with me tomorrow. It's this horribly fun looking blue Chinese dragon. Dear lord I will keep and cherish it forever now. I even think I found the name for my new doll with everything going on now. Jesse, my dad's middle name.
I have broken down and bawled so many tears tonight, trying to get out as much as possible so when I see him I don't have any and can just stand there and hold his hand and tell him I love him. We've had so many tiffs over the years and he's whined at me that I don't come over often enough, but he's one of the best dads ever.
The universe has a cruel sense of humor. People always talk about being in the right place at the right time. I can only think that this whole slew of events that placed us living with my parents since last June all happened the way it did leading up to everything that's happened this week. I'm really hoping I don't go away from 2012 hating Christmas.
Up until 3am baking cookies for a Christmas party with friends tomorrow. Chances are high I will break down and bawl my eyes out at any given point. I just really want to see my friends right now and try to do something cheerful.
