oh no, no

My mom just called.

My dad was feeling weak, she tried to help him up, and he couldn't stand. He fell - luckily did not break anything - but it turns out he has pneumonia.

My mom THINKS he had the pneumonia shot, but the doctor he was seeing around age 65 (when he would have got it) didn't keep good records and died suddenly about a dozen years ago - so unless it's in the records they got from the doctor they saw after that guy, we don't know.

They got him to the hospital and checked him out.

Right now he's in the ICU, intubated and sedated, and on antibiotics. My mom tells me he's had pneumonia a few times when he was younger so maybe he is prone to it (grew up with parents who were smokers, did research in deep mineral mines, has sinus problems). He's also not real mobile so maybe he's not getting fluids out of his chest?

My mom said the doctors were a bit more optimistic when they figured out it was pneumonia but the big question is how did he get it? He almost never goes out anywhere (though he was at the doctor's a week or more ago) and my mom isn't sick.

I'm terribly worried. This is a bad time for this. Earlier in the summer I could have just dropped everything and gone up there but classes start Monday. If things get a hell of a lot worse, I will be going up there, but....I hope it's not that. I hope he's home in a few days.

If you're the prayers, good-thoughts, or mojo type, can I have some, please? My dad's name is Bob if that helps.

I'm not ready for this. I mean, I know this is sometimes how it goes- the person goes to the hospital with pneumonia and that's it. But I'm not ready to deal with this, not now.

I don't know if intubated means on a ventilator. Oh God, I bet it does. Oh no. oh no no no.

***

Updated, nearly 7 pm: several people who have older relatives who have been there and done that have reassured me - they tend to treat aggressively in older people. My piano teacher noted that sometimes people not very mobile (that is my dad) can get fluid buildup that can lead to this, and even colds can contribute to the development (I think he had a cold a while back).

My minister called me - I had e-mailed him - and I feel somewhat reassured, and really, at this point there's not much I can do. If it had been really dire I suspect my mom would have told me to make plans for getting up there; she seemed to be of the opinion he'd be better tomorrow and might get moved to a room from the ICU. I hope she's right.

But yeah. I need to eat something and even though it's getting late for it to dry properly, I need to wash my hair.

I admit if any telemarketers call me tonight I might just pick up and give them a piece of my mind for harassing people at home who are worried and for whom the phone ringing might mean serious news. Not very helpful to scream at bots, though....


***

Updated again, 7:30 - my mom called just a few moments ago.

She had said "I won't call again unless I have to" so of course my stomach dropped into my feet when I saw her number on the phone but it was generally good news:

1. The nurse-practitioner told her they were about 90% certain they’d be taking out the intubation tomorrow morning, so they won’t keep him intubated long, which tells me that they just wanted to pump more O2 into him tonight. She hadn't told me that before, or else I didn't absorb it if she did.
   
   
2. She had told me not to call my uncle (my dad’s brother) who is a doctor because he tends to freak out about these things and wants to drop everything and travel to where the afflicted person is, but I guess she forgot to tell my brother, because he called him (facepalm, Jon, we’ve been through this before). Uncle isn’t planning on rushing down there (which also reassures me that it’s not DIRE) and he also noted that “if a person doesn’t breathe deeply enough and is not very mobile” (THIS IS MY DAD), they can sometimes develop pneumonia and my mom says she’s going to be more pushy about him doing the spirometer and moving around in the future.
   
   I guess this also tells me that as I age I need to really keep an eye on my own asthma, though I suspect the regular exercise I do helps keep some of the worse stuff at bay.
   
   
3. My minister called and we talked a bit. My dad is now on the prayer chain but he also had reassuring words about intubation not being a terrible horrible sign.
   
   I still need to eat something but might just make pancakes....