A Little More Time

My dad has been in the hospital for a week and a half. Whereas for a lot of people this would cause a lot of anxiety and hand-wringing, for my sisters and me it was a cause for rejoicing, as our Daddy just has not been himself for the last few months and we thought it was well-past time that someone figured out what was wrong. He was forgetting things - lots of things. He couldn't really carry on a conversation with you - it would either be one-word answers, or the same sentence, over and over again. (Spooky, as our Dad is the Champion Endurance Talker of the Century, once holding an old high school buddy of mine captive on the phone for 45 minutes talking about turkey hunting. It took my friend at least a year before he would even call me again.)

At any rate, the kicker was, for about 2 weeks prior to his hospitalization, my dad would not get out of bed. He wouldn't eat. He just lay there, sleeping or staring at a muted TV. It was A.W.F.U.L. When he finally did get up, he went for a haircut, fell out of the chair, and didn't remember falling. That was it. We (Mom and I) took him to the neurologist the next day.

I'm happy to say, one hospital visit and lots of new medications later, my dad is SO much better. He is diabetic, and had let his blood sugar stay way too high for way too long. He also has hypothyroidism, which was going practically untreated. Those conditions are now under control. But the best thing is that he has a renewed state of mind and emotional health, if you know what I mean. I feel like at least a glimmer of the old Dad is back.

I know not everyone gets to keep their parents around for as long as I have. But I'm not ashamed to admit selfishness on this point. I want 'em as long as I can have 'em, and I want 'em as they are - not shells, not bodies without spark or personality. I hope the last two weeks have bought us a little more time together, and I plan to use it. Even if it means listening to turkey stories.