The Call

It's only happened twice. I clearly remember the first time - November 17, 2004 at around 4 am. My mom called, hysterical, because the hospital had called and said she needed to come. Immediately. They asked her if they should revive my dad or not should he stop breathing before she got there, and she said no.

If you're like me at all, sleep is sacred. If people call too early (aka Lauren's friend Paul who likes to meet him for spontaneous 6am breakfasts), they will get an earful. If someone calls in the middle of the night and it's a wrong number, they're gonna get it as well. I have trouble sleeping anyway, so if I'm asleep... don't bother me, please.

So, I fell asleep about 11:30 tonight (last night), only to awaken at 11:50 to my mother, again hysterical. My grandfather had outpatient shoulder surgery on Monday, and was having trouble breathing that evening. They put him in ICU, noticed a spot on his lung, and did an MRI. They determined that he had pneumonia, and moved him to a regular room around 1 pm on Tuesday. He stopped breathing (when we got The Call) and they were able to intubate him, so now he's stable and getting oxygen. I hate to say it, but he's got the cards stacked against him. He's over 80, smoked for probably 40+ years, he owned a company that installed asbestos, then turned it into a company that removed asbestos. His wife, my grandmother, died of lung cancer in 1993 and he hasn't smoked since then. We were all kind of surprised to find out the spot on his lung was not cancer. But, at 80, pneumonia is probably just as threatening.

So, now I've been up since 5:30 this morning. I'm tired, but can't get to sleep. I'm watching food network - this guy just made a "monster" pizza that weighed in at 12.5 lbs. It's a $49 pie - free if you can eat the whole thing within an hour. Two guys tried and were miserable after 5 lbs.

Lauren just found out last night that he's got to leave for Chicago tonight so he can work Thursday morning at 7 am. So, I get to spend my birthday both at the hospital in the ICU waiting room, then come home alone with the boys. I don't usually throw pity parties, but I've been up almost 24 hours and I'm tired and cranky. After some sleep, I'll probably delete this whole post because it's too melodramatic, and I hate melodrama.

So forget you even read this, okay? Seriously.