After getting home from London, I was immediately faced with the arrival of my mom from Columbus. My parents had been watching my dog while we were overseas, and Mom was returning her to us. The plan was that she’d come in in Saturday and leave the following Saturday.
Well, Tuesday night, everything changed. My dad called, complaining of pain in his chest, sweats, and fatigue. He called 911, was transported to the hospital, and was told he had a minor heart attack. We changed her return flight and I bought a ticket to go with her the following day.
It’s funny how knitting can be so many things at once. There are days when it’s a frustrating challenge (like in my last post!). There are days of incredible accomplishment, where sometimes you surprise yourself with how well something turned out. There are days when it’s tedious, interesting, or used to keep you from boredom. And there are days when it’s a distraction.
I distracted myself on the 2 1/2-hour flight. Then again on the cab ride home. In the hospital, too, as we waited on doctors and nurses and time to pass. Time is so weird in hospitals… Five minutes takes an hour to pass, and suddenly you look up, and the day has gone by in seconds. Luckily, Dad’s heart attack was minor, the damage is barely noticeable and may heal, and he feels fine. He was discharged from the hospital yesterday, and I flew back to Houston today.
And on the plane home? I distracted myself:
Hopefully next week will be more conducive to fun patterns, and not so much personal stuff. I have some new stuff in my queue that is dying to be shared… In the meantime, do me a favor and get a cholesterol test at your next physical, and of course, try to win some fun yarn before the month’s end!
– YX
Thanks goodness your father's condition wasn't more serious. Sometimes life does give us second chances.
Thanks for saying that– I'm still trying to process how someone who is in such good physical health can have that kind of episode. It makes me simultaneously scared and grateful for each day!
I'm so glad your dad is okay! It's so scary to have stuff happen to a parent. I had to take my Mom to the hospital for chest pains a couple of years ago and it was the scariest thing ever. It turned out to be blood pressure related but was still such a relief that it was something that she could do something about and had more time. So many hugs!!
I'm glad he's OK – my family's had some health scares in the past couple of months, and it can really be a breath-holding experience.
(I've also taken my mom to the hospital for what she thought might be a heart attack. After she checked her email one last time, of course. Sigh.)