EMERGENCY
It's 3 a.m. now as I write this post. I cannot sleep yet, the adrenalin still pumping within me. I just had one of the biggest scares of my life. The girl (Marilyn) who is taking care of my father called to tell me that my Dad, who's supposedly asleep, is no longer moving.
I was speaking with Marilyn earlier tonight (at 10pm Miami time), and she told me that my Dad was still in bed sleeping. Since sleep has been elusive to him, I just told Marilyn not to wake him up anymore and just to let him rest. I did ask her, however, to make sure that my father was still breathing, to which she was positive that he is.
But by 12:00 noon Philippine time, my father still had not gotten up from bed. This is very unusual for him. And so the girls (I've 2 caregiverss taking care of my father) went inside his room to wake him up but he wasn't responding. They shook him hard. but my Dad still did not move. So Marilyn called a neighbor and my cousins who live closeby. They all came to the house and thought that my father must have had a mild heart attack while sleeping. (Philippines is not like here where you can call 911 immediately.)
Our phone rang a little after 12midnight Miami time, and it was Marilyn. Of course I freaked out when I heard what she had to tell me. I was close to getting hysterical. Memories of receiving the news about my mother's passing away came back like a rushing wave over me. Everything's still so fresh in my mind..and now my father??? "Lord, please, not yet" was the silent scream inside of me, while I broke into sobs. I don't think I can handle this, so soon after my mother's death. Joe was beside himself too, not knowing what to do. He just kept on saying to me "be strong". He himself began praying to God.
And then, Marilyn called again to say that my father is breathing afterall. His stomach is rising up and down, however, there has been no other movement from him apart from this. My father's eyes are closed, but his mouth is gaping open and a bit crooked - which caused speculation among my cousins that my dad had had a mild stroke.
After what seemed like an eternity, my cousin came back with an ambulance. He ran to the nearby hospital to call for one. So my father was rushed to the emergency. After an hour of torture of not knowing what is happening with my father, I finally got through the cellphone of my cousin who went to the hospital with him. It was found out that my Dad had hypoglycemia.
For those who are not aware - my father has not been eating well since his heel operation on October last year. And on top of that, he is also suffering from neuropathic pain - a condition whereby the damaged nerves (due to diabetes) are causing tremendous burning sensation and shooting pain in both his legs. Pain so terrible that he cannot even sleep on some nights. He has been taking pain medications since last year and it seems like those are not having an effect on him anymore.
But yesterday, the vascular surgeon my father started seeing not too long ago, gave him another pain reliever prescription, with the dosage a little higher than what he used to take. This seemed to be effective as, for the first time in 2 days, my father was was finally able to sleep. And I believe that his physical exhaustion due to sleeplessness, combined with the pain medication, knocked him out so much so that he slept longer than usual. And without food intake for about 7hrs (and he hasn't been eating well to begin with), his blood sugar level dropped down so low that his body went into a shock. He would have eventually fallen into a coma had not Marilyn caught my father's situation on time.
After an IV shot+ dextrose, my father recovered. The doctor sent him home with a strict instruction to have his blood sugar monitored several times during the day to prevent such incident from happening again. They wanted him to be admitted to the hospital but he refused.
Believe it or not, I am already packed, ready to go home. Joe was trying to book my ticket to the Philippines when we got the news that my father is, afterall, now doing OK. Infact, he is already back home and I just spoke with him. What a relief. What a night.
It's 4:00am, and now I can go to bed.
I was speaking with Marilyn earlier tonight (at 10pm Miami time), and she told me that my Dad was still in bed sleeping. Since sleep has been elusive to him, I just told Marilyn not to wake him up anymore and just to let him rest. I did ask her, however, to make sure that my father was still breathing, to which she was positive that he is.
But by 12:00 noon Philippine time, my father still had not gotten up from bed. This is very unusual for him. And so the girls (I've 2 caregiverss taking care of my father) went inside his room to wake him up but he wasn't responding. They shook him hard. but my Dad still did not move. So Marilyn called a neighbor and my cousins who live closeby. They all came to the house and thought that my father must have had a mild heart attack while sleeping. (Philippines is not like here where you can call 911 immediately.)
Our phone rang a little after 12midnight Miami time, and it was Marilyn. Of course I freaked out when I heard what she had to tell me. I was close to getting hysterical. Memories of receiving the news about my mother's passing away came back like a rushing wave over me. Everything's still so fresh in my mind..and now my father??? "Lord, please, not yet" was the silent scream inside of me, while I broke into sobs. I don't think I can handle this, so soon after my mother's death. Joe was beside himself too, not knowing what to do. He just kept on saying to me "be strong". He himself began praying to God.
And then, Marilyn called again to say that my father is breathing afterall. His stomach is rising up and down, however, there has been no other movement from him apart from this. My father's eyes are closed, but his mouth is gaping open and a bit crooked - which caused speculation among my cousins that my dad had had a mild stroke.
After what seemed like an eternity, my cousin came back with an ambulance. He ran to the nearby hospital to call for one. So my father was rushed to the emergency. After an hour of torture of not knowing what is happening with my father, I finally got through the cellphone of my cousin who went to the hospital with him. It was found out that my Dad had hypoglycemia.
For those who are not aware - my father has not been eating well since his heel operation on October last year. And on top of that, he is also suffering from neuropathic pain - a condition whereby the damaged nerves (due to diabetes) are causing tremendous burning sensation and shooting pain in both his legs. Pain so terrible that he cannot even sleep on some nights. He has been taking pain medications since last year and it seems like those are not having an effect on him anymore.
But yesterday, the vascular surgeon my father started seeing not too long ago, gave him another pain reliever prescription, with the dosage a little higher than what he used to take. This seemed to be effective as, for the first time in 2 days, my father was was finally able to sleep. And I believe that his physical exhaustion due to sleeplessness, combined with the pain medication, knocked him out so much so that he slept longer than usual. And without food intake for about 7hrs (and he hasn't been eating well to begin with), his blood sugar level dropped down so low that his body went into a shock. He would have eventually fallen into a coma had not Marilyn caught my father's situation on time.
After an IV shot+ dextrose, my father recovered. The doctor sent him home with a strict instruction to have his blood sugar monitored several times during the day to prevent such incident from happening again. They wanted him to be admitted to the hospital but he refused.
Believe it or not, I am already packed, ready to go home. Joe was trying to book my ticket to the Philippines when we got the news that my father is, afterall, now doing OK. Infact, he is already back home and I just spoke with him. What a relief. What a night.
It's 4:00am, and now I can go to bed.
Psalms 62: 2,
He alone is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will not be shaken.....Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge.
Comments
Please don't hesitate to call us.
We praying that he makes a full recovery.