WhiteLightning
This is WhiteLightning!
Well, it's been about 4 months now that my Dad has been diagnosed with Stage 4 Lung Cancer not including all his other health issues. My dad was smoking cigarettes for about 50 years up until he was diagnosed. His right lung is pretty much nonexistent and his left lung is only at about 75%. His sciatica is really making things difficult for him physically. He has been going for chemotherapy once a week and he started Radiation therapy a week ago. After his 2nd month of chemo he went for a CT scan with some positive results. With the pain in his upper back gradually getting worse the Dr decided that it was time for radiation.
What this all means is a ton of Dr's visits per week. We go for chemo once a week, which usually lasts about 4 hours, we go to the chiropractor twice a week, and now we have been going for radiation five times a week on top of all the rest. It is very difficult for my dad to even walk up and down the stairs because of the sciatica as well as he gets very short of breath doing the smallest things. It's also very stressful for me along with working 60 hours a week managing a high volume restaurant taking care of 150 employees and 10,000 guests a week. I average about 3-4 hours a night of sleep. Even if I have the time available to sleep my body is used to not sleeping.
How this all brings me to today. I woke up this morning after actually getting 8 hours of sleep and am on my way to get my dad for his radiation, followed by a chemo shot, then followed by a visit to the chiropractor. Well, we made it to radiation, all was going as normal as it's been, when my dad started to complain of a lot back pain. We spoke to the Dr and he feels that the pain is from arthritis, so he says take some aspirin. We get in the car and drive off to the chemo center. Two minutes later I pull up to a red light and everything starts spinning kind of like I'm on a roller coaster but I'm not. So, I pull the car over recline the seat and open all the windows. Within a 2 minutes I feel fine and we're off to the chemo center again. After a few minutes of driving I start getting dizzy again. I try to shake it off just so that I can get my dad to the chemo center, where I would have time to try and recuperate.
Somehow we finally made it to chemo center and I dropped my dad off. I go to look for parking and by now I'm feeling horrible. I'm so dizzy I can't see straight and I'm feeling nauseous, I don't know how I was able to drive and get the car parked. So I call my fiancee, to let her know what's going on. I start to try what worked earlier and I know that I need to get to the store to try and get some kind of sugar. The problem was now that I was completely incapacitated my hands started to go numb and I was developing a pain in my chest and ears. This is where I started to panic which led to me to start hyperventilating. I couldn't do a thing. I could barely dial the phone. I call my fiancee to let her know of my status and we decide I need to call 911.
911 arrives in just a few minutes and a few minutes late I'm in the nearest hospital. About 7 hours later I'm released. They said it was a hypoglycemic attack and that my blood sugar was very high. So I guess I'll be going to get checked out from my PCP to see if I have Diabetes.
My fiancee and her family helped me get through this ordeal and I don't know what I would have done without them. My fiancee left work and rushed to the chemo center to take my dad home. Her dad rushed to over to bring the extra set of car keys. Then her sister came to bring her to me at the hospital and to get my car home. Then my fiancee came back and stayed with me by my side until I left the hospital. There is no way for me to ever feel like I can repay them. I'm really blessed with having them in my life.
Well, I'm feeling better now. I am still getting a little light headed from time to time. I think I'll be o.k. I'm just more concerned for my dad. Sometimes life ain't easy.
Thanks for taking the time to read this. I just needed to get this of my chest.
What this all means is a ton of Dr's visits per week. We go for chemo once a week, which usually lasts about 4 hours, we go to the chiropractor twice a week, and now we have been going for radiation five times a week on top of all the rest. It is very difficult for my dad to even walk up and down the stairs because of the sciatica as well as he gets very short of breath doing the smallest things. It's also very stressful for me along with working 60 hours a week managing a high volume restaurant taking care of 150 employees and 10,000 guests a week. I average about 3-4 hours a night of sleep. Even if I have the time available to sleep my body is used to not sleeping.
How this all brings me to today. I woke up this morning after actually getting 8 hours of sleep and am on my way to get my dad for his radiation, followed by a chemo shot, then followed by a visit to the chiropractor. Well, we made it to radiation, all was going as normal as it's been, when my dad started to complain of a lot back pain. We spoke to the Dr and he feels that the pain is from arthritis, so he says take some aspirin. We get in the car and drive off to the chemo center. Two minutes later I pull up to a red light and everything starts spinning kind of like I'm on a roller coaster but I'm not. So, I pull the car over recline the seat and open all the windows. Within a 2 minutes I feel fine and we're off to the chemo center again. After a few minutes of driving I start getting dizzy again. I try to shake it off just so that I can get my dad to the chemo center, where I would have time to try and recuperate.
Somehow we finally made it to chemo center and I dropped my dad off. I go to look for parking and by now I'm feeling horrible. I'm so dizzy I can't see straight and I'm feeling nauseous, I don't know how I was able to drive and get the car parked. So I call my fiancee, to let her know what's going on. I start to try what worked earlier and I know that I need to get to the store to try and get some kind of sugar. The problem was now that I was completely incapacitated my hands started to go numb and I was developing a pain in my chest and ears. This is where I started to panic which led to me to start hyperventilating. I couldn't do a thing. I could barely dial the phone. I call my fiancee to let her know of my status and we decide I need to call 911.
911 arrives in just a few minutes and a few minutes late I'm in the nearest hospital. About 7 hours later I'm released. They said it was a hypoglycemic attack and that my blood sugar was very high. So I guess I'll be going to get checked out from my PCP to see if I have Diabetes.
My fiancee and her family helped me get through this ordeal and I don't know what I would have done without them. My fiancee left work and rushed to the chemo center to take my dad home. Her dad rushed to over to bring the extra set of car keys. Then her sister came to bring her to me at the hospital and to get my car home. Then my fiancee came back and stayed with me by my side until I left the hospital. There is no way for me to ever feel like I can repay them. I'm really blessed with having them in my life.
Well, I'm feeling better now. I am still getting a little light headed from time to time. I think I'll be o.k. I'm just more concerned for my dad. Sometimes life ain't easy.
Thanks for taking the time to read this. I just needed to get this of my chest.
