.i.stink.at.this.updating.thing.

so a lot has happened since the early morning of 6/22. i have a weird theory on why i couldn't sleep during my last post. turns out my dad was in the hospital at the same time. he was going thru tests to see why he was having pain on the right side of his stomach. yes, that's right biology brainiacks, he had an appendicitis. so they gave him some antibiotics and the pain subsided, so they didn't think they had to perform the surgery right away; they scheduled it for 6AM the next morning, still 6/22.

at 8AM, i got out of the shower and see that i have a message on my cell. listen to the message, and it goes something like this:

Mom: "myra, dad's in the hospital. he's scheduled to have surgery at 6AM this morning. call me back"
Me (what!): "WTF..."

i tried calling my mom's cell twice and realized she was either in the hospital where it wasn't allowed or didn't hear it. (i believed the latter.) so i tried calling my brother, and he's the one who tells me it's his appendix. *phew* at least it's no his heart...i have to admit that one of my first thoughts, albeit selfish, was 'what if he doesn't make it to the wedding?' i know i know. just call me bridezilla.

so i called my mom at home, at my brother's advice, and my mom finally picked up the phone and said she just got out of the shower and was about to go to the hospital. she and my dad were still jetlagged, since they just came back from the motherland monday evening...my mom asks me to go to the hospital in the afternoon, so she can go to work and do the payroll stuff, since dad couldn't do it. so i go to work, tell them i have to leave at noon, then head over to the hospital by 1:30PM.

lemme preface this by saying that i HATE hospitals. i really do. i'm scared of them, don't like the smell of them, and having all the nurses as filipino also makes me nervous. don't ask me why. and no offense to anyone's mom who is/was a nurse. i just don't like the environment. i know sometimes they try to make it a nice place to be, but really, it's not. with everyone's rooms open and random issues in every door...it's just not plesant.

so i get to the hospital and try to psych myself up to what i'm about to expect to see. but when i walk into my dad's room, i wasn't quit prepared to see him so small and helpless in the bed. thank god he was sleeping, so he couldn't see the 1-second look of disturbance pass on my face. so i sit down, took out my knitting needles and proceeded to catch up on my new hobby. i had to re-read the instructions to remember how it worked; and as i was reading the 2nd page, my dad woke up and saw me. he said, "oh, myra, you're here." he tried to adjust in the bed, but was too weak to do anything. i had to get him his water and starting asking him how he was feeling, if he felt any pain, if he wanted the nurse... i showed him the tribune and readers digest issues that i brought to keep him entertained. asked him if he wanted the tv on for some background noise. he didn't really want any of these. he just wanted to lay. for the rest of the day he was in and out of sleepiness. we'd talk for a few minutes, then he'd fall asleep. caught up on the motherland and the rest of the relatives who i haven't seen in about 5 years...twas really nice. good father-daughter time. i was his 'personal nurse' for the rest of the day, until i left around 10PM. and it was emotionally draining for me, and physically draining for him.

the nurse came in and told him that if he didn't start peeing (more than 200ML at a time), then she would have to put a cathetar in, since he's intaking all these liquids, but not excreting anything out. she suggested he start walking around the hospital floor to awaken his bowels, and he gave her a look that said 'what, are you crazy??' but the threat of the cathetar was enough to make him struggle to get up and walk around for about 1/2 hour. i walked with him, and again, he looked so small and frail walking around, rolling his IV cart. about 45 minutes later, none of this worked, so the nurse had to give him the cathetar. i cringe even saying the word...so i'm sure it was pure hell for him. my aunt, uncle, and cousin came while the nurse was doing it..afterwards, we went back in his room and tried to talk normally. my uncle's a doc, so he started reviewing his chart and discussing with the nurse... then my mom finally came back around 8PM, the official end of visiting hours. the nurses, however, did not kick us out. was it because we're filipino or what? at any rate, we stayed until we left to eat.

i forgot that i hadn't eaten any solid foods all day, so by 10PM, my dad told my mom that i needed to eat. so we went out to omega's afterwards. then got home around midnight...

i know i just rambled, so forgive me if i'm a bit green with this hospital stuff. i'm just not used to it. thankfully, i'm not used to it.

my dad was originally supposed to be discharged wed night, the evening of the surgery! but my dad was hoping he wouldn't be, since the insurance doesn't pay for hospital stays less than 24 hours. well the 23 hour admittance turned into 72 hours. he wasn't discharged until sat night. they had to keep him there since it was still difficult for him to excrete those liquids, and his abdomen was still distended from being filled for too long. i went home-home to see him on sunday afternoon, and he looked almost back to normal. not eating normally, but pretty much normal. the doc said he can eat whatever he wants. but my mom won't have any of that. she made fried chicken (my favorite!) that night and wouldn't let my dad have any of it. hahaha. as we were eating, my mom got up to go to the kitchen for some water, and my dad reached over to eat some of her fried chicken and rice...i just shook my head at him...

other than that excitement, we're finally settling on invitations and favors. FINALLY! i just want it over with at this point, so we can get on with the other things.

and can i just say that dancing with the stars is the bomb diggity! as well as beauty and the geek. thank god it's on during the summer so i have something more to watch than dawsons! not that dawsons isn't good enough for me, because it is...but you know. variety is the spice of life. mmmmmmK.

also, i'm back to running on the lake during the weekends. i ran about 4 miles this past saturday...well, really run and walk. i didn't want to push too hard. but this weekend, i'm planning on running a lot more. thursday is my last session of physical therapy, which is good because training for the 1/2 marathon in sept starts next monday! if i can't do the full, i may as well do the 1/2! who knows, i may just run that full marathon this year anyways...

*insert evil grin here*

cesare!