Peace Be With You, Dad
As some of you know, we received a call on Sunday afternoon from our dear friend and adopted Oma to Sasha, Waltraud, that Nathan's Dad, Tom, had a massive stroke some time on Sunday morning. He apparently had been getting ready for church around 7 a.m. and collapsed in his bathroom. He had brunch plans with Waltraud so when she arrived at 11:30 a.m. and he didn't answer the door, she suspected something was wrong. She went to the neighbor who has a key, he wasn't home (isn't that always the way with the neighbor that has a key?). She then went to the neighbor across the street and they brought a ladder to see if they could peer into the lit bathroom window. They were too short to see in. Waltraud called the police who were able to see that Dad had collapsed so they broke into the front door and found Tom lying in the bathroom, concious but partially paralyzed on one side of his body. Ultimately, the paramedics from the local fire department came and transferred Dad to the hospital about three minutes from his home.
That phone call seems like a million days ago. We (Brent, Deanne, Mama Dao, Sasha, Nathan & I) have spent the past week mostly in the ICU unit holding Dad's hand, telling him the current news, reading get well cards that have been sent, telling him how much we love him and talking about Sasha and Mia. It's been quite an emotional roller coaster - first there seemed like no hope, the next day he seemed more alert, the next day less responsive, the morning of the next day better and finally, yesterday where he was unresponsive the entire day. This morning the hospital is doing a CT scan to see if the brain has continued to swell (which is the body's reaction to the injury and, if it doesn't stop, will cause his heart to stop). Nathan has indicated that he seems about the same as yesterday.
Dad has never been a man to be 'still' for long so seeing him be so 'still' for a week is hard. During our visit with him at Easter, we were glad to see that he was finally overcoming his grief after Mom's death which happened exactly a year ago today (I still tear up thinking about her not being with us). Several people have told me this week that he had mentioned in the past that he was now living for Sasha. I think he has no greater fan than his grandson.
I've never met two people more on the go than Nathan's folks. I remember our visit with them in Arizona. We had to leave at the crack of dawn. We drove out to some historic community where we walked around and had ice cream (of course!). We then went to three other places at varying distances away. I was beat. I remember, as they were driving up to a quarry after an entire day of 'extreme sightseeing', thinking, "are you kidding me"? I opted for sitting in the car, glad for a chance to get a little rest after a grueling day. This was the way of Mom and Dad. They were 'go getters'. When they had their Bettendorf house with a couple of acres which consisted of large landscape beds, Mom and Dad would spend all day working in the yard. They were machines.
For Dad ... the go getter .. the person that just returned from visiting Brent and Deanne in El Salvador .. for the person who thought he might travel to Russia to see the birth place of his grandchildren - being bed ridden in a nursing home would be the worst possible outcome. He had actually told us this during his visit during Christmas that being in a nursing home was his greatest fear. He never wanted to be incapacitated. I guess no one ever does. It was heartbreaking to be calling facilities close to our house yesterday in preparation for his possible need to go to a skilled nursing facility next week. We have decided that we will move him to Illinois so that we can handle all his personal needs (fresh laundry, visits from the grandchildren to remind him why he needs to fight, etc.) We need to be close to him during his recovery if that's the path he takes.
Nathan, Sasha and I have said a lot of prayers and shed a lot of tears this week. I think the thing we pray for is that God's will is done and that Dad finds peace. He deserves that.
If you're a praying person, could you please keep Dad / Tom / Ice Iowa in your prayers. I think that's the thing that will help him most at this time.
Peace be with you, Dad. Peace be with you.
That phone call seems like a million days ago. We (Brent, Deanne, Mama Dao, Sasha, Nathan & I) have spent the past week mostly in the ICU unit holding Dad's hand, telling him the current news, reading get well cards that have been sent, telling him how much we love him and talking about Sasha and Mia. It's been quite an emotional roller coaster - first there seemed like no hope, the next day he seemed more alert, the next day less responsive, the morning of the next day better and finally, yesterday where he was unresponsive the entire day. This morning the hospital is doing a CT scan to see if the brain has continued to swell (which is the body's reaction to the injury and, if it doesn't stop, will cause his heart to stop). Nathan has indicated that he seems about the same as yesterday.
Dad has never been a man to be 'still' for long so seeing him be so 'still' for a week is hard. During our visit with him at Easter, we were glad to see that he was finally overcoming his grief after Mom's death which happened exactly a year ago today (I still tear up thinking about her not being with us). Several people have told me this week that he had mentioned in the past that he was now living for Sasha. I think he has no greater fan than his grandson.
I've never met two people more on the go than Nathan's folks. I remember our visit with them in Arizona. We had to leave at the crack of dawn. We drove out to some historic community where we walked around and had ice cream (of course!). We then went to three other places at varying distances away. I was beat. I remember, as they were driving up to a quarry after an entire day of 'extreme sightseeing', thinking, "are you kidding me"? I opted for sitting in the car, glad for a chance to get a little rest after a grueling day. This was the way of Mom and Dad. They were 'go getters'. When they had their Bettendorf house with a couple of acres which consisted of large landscape beds, Mom and Dad would spend all day working in the yard. They were machines.
For Dad ... the go getter .. the person that just returned from visiting Brent and Deanne in El Salvador .. for the person who thought he might travel to Russia to see the birth place of his grandchildren - being bed ridden in a nursing home would be the worst possible outcome. He had actually told us this during his visit during Christmas that being in a nursing home was his greatest fear. He never wanted to be incapacitated. I guess no one ever does. It was heartbreaking to be calling facilities close to our house yesterday in preparation for his possible need to go to a skilled nursing facility next week. We have decided that we will move him to Illinois so that we can handle all his personal needs (fresh laundry, visits from the grandchildren to remind him why he needs to fight, etc.) We need to be close to him during his recovery if that's the path he takes.
Nathan, Sasha and I have said a lot of prayers and shed a lot of tears this week. I think the thing we pray for is that God's will is done and that Dad finds peace. He deserves that.
If you're a praying person, could you please keep Dad / Tom / Ice Iowa in your prayers. I think that's the thing that will help him most at this time.
Peace be with you, Dad. Peace be with you.
posted by Tamara at 8:13 AM
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