The Vacation From Hell

It was the most expensive meal of my life and it wasn't even that good. It was just your usual all-you-can-eat buffet. Lunch cost six hundred dollars for two people and we didn't even order alcohol. It was partly expensive because lunch was along the coast with a nice view of the scenic Port of Los Angeles. And, the tab included four days at sea on a cruise ship. But, we left after lunch.

What happened is that after lunch, I had called my mom to see how my dad was doing. We had taken my father to the hospital the night before and he had been admitted. It was determined that he had new onset heart failure in addition to his pre-existing emphysema. The conditions can be managed medically up to a point, so I figured with some changes in his medications, he would be discharged in a day or two. Before the ship left though, I wanted to make sure my dad was doing okay.

My mom had bad news. Dad had an aortic aneurism and might need surgery right away. Lindsay and I got off the ship. I went to my parent's house and moved in for a few days. The cruise clothes worked fine for my stay, although I had no occasion to wear my red ballgown.

By the time I got to the hospital with my mom, they were putting Dad on a gurney to transfer him to another hospital. A surgeon there was going to try and repair the aneurysm by snaking a stent through a blood vessel in his groin. It was a new procedure that only became available a couple of years ago. There was a possibility that the aneurism could only be repaired by opening my father up. With his bad lungs and heart, he was a poor surgical risk for such extensive surgery.

The surgery went well and only the the minimally invasive procedure was needed. It turned out that there were two aneurysms along the abdominal aorta and were about the size of oranges. It was a miracle that they were diagnosed before they ruptured.

It was the week from hell. My stomach still hurts from the stress and I lost a pound without trying, but my dad is now home and doing much better. The first thing he did after we got him home and plopped in his chair was to ask for his cigarettes. Even after all of this, he is still unwilling to quit smoking and there is not a thing we can do about it.

Now, it is time for me to go back to work and I need a vacation. At least I have my dad back.