My dad’s in hospital – Covid 19 – Page 2 – Chat Forum

pinetree · 2020-04-19T06:54:13Z

First time posting on here in a long while. Wasn’t really sure where else to vent, but this situation is frrkin shyte and I need to rant for a bit (can’t remember if there’s a swear filter on here or not) My dad messages me over the weekend to say he feels like he’s got a cough coming on. By Sunday it’s a really bad cough and a fever - doc prescribes antibiotics. By Tuesday night he has such difficulty breathing that he’s called an ambulance - paramedics say it’s possibly Covid, but his symptoms are mild (apparently, though they didn’t look that mild to me when I was able to get him on FaceTime) and advise him to stay home to give the antibiotics more time - Call again if it gets worse. By the middle of the night Wed into Thurs it got so bad he called an ambulance again, which took him to hospital. They put him on Cpap, but the damage done to his lungs is so bad that they move him to critical care and increase the amount of oxygen he’s getting. Update from my cousin who lives local to him (I am on the other side of the planet with an 8hr time difference) at 5am this morning to say no change since yesterday. Then another one at 6:30 to say it’s all gone downhill and that I should call the ward. So I do, and I speak to the consultant overseeing his care - apparently the amount of oxygen required was significant enough that they want to put him on a ventilator before it gets any worse. My dad has already agreed to this and he’s been under for half an hour by the time I got the message and called the hospital. The dr explains that they’re intervening early to try and prevent further deterioration to the point where do be dependent upon it. He says that while my dad is stable for the time being, he is very sick as his lungs have taken an absolute kicking (though I’m sure he phrased it more professionally than that) and that it’s a dangerous situation, as people on ventilators are more likely to die than those who are not, under these conditions. That all makes sense and I trust the Dr’s judgement, but I’m really not sure what to do with that information. I have no idea how to digest it and I’m a god-damn wreck. I’m trying my hardest to be pragmatic about this. He’s 72 but is in pretty good shape - physically and mentally strong. I’d have thought that, coming into this, he’s in about as strong a position as it’s possible for a 72yo to be in, but over the last week this has just laid him out and his body must be absolutely worn down. I am really worried for him. But then I’m not - for good chunks of the day today I’ve just been getting on with stuff and not even thought about it. When I realise I’m doing that I feel guilty for not worrying (and I know that’s not helpful) I’m also feeling crap that I’m not there for him - as I mentioned, he’s in the UK and I’m on the far side of Canada. Even though the hospital aren’t allowing visitors (understandably) and international travel is a no-go right now (again, understandably) I still can’t help feeling quite alone out here, and worse that he’s alone over there. What’s really getting to me is that, if this is to be it, I won’t have had the chance to say goodbye; to tell him I love him and thank him for being a brilliant dad, and grandad to my son. That hurts. That really bloody hurts. I know he’s got as good a chance at beating this as anyone else so I’m trying hard to keep my spirits up and stay optimistic, but with day after day of updates telling me “things have gotten a bit worse” I’m finding it really hard. It’s also the injustice of it I’m finding hard to deal with. As I said, he looks after himself - very fit and healthy, never smoked a day in his life. I find it hard to accept that he’s been hit so hard like this. A few years ago he moved in with my grandma to look after her in her final years. She passed away on April 1st and because of this illness my dad wasn’t able to go to the funeral. Not only did he not get the chance to lay her to rest, there’s also a chance that we won’t get to say goodbye to him. It’s just crap. When we knew Grandma was on her last legs he told me that, once she passed, he was going to to take 4-6 months off and just enjoy life for a bit - had even talked about coming back out to Canada and spending a month or two plodding around in an RV. I feel like that time he’s been waiting for has been snatched from him, and that’s so damned unfair. I know “life’s not fair” and all that, but it’s a difficult pill to swallow in these circumstances. Anyway... My wife’s been bloody awesome the past couple of days - super supportive and comforting. My little boy’s been an absolute star too - he doesn’t understand what’s going on really (which is probably for the best) but just knows that grandad’s sick and dad’s very worried/upset. I’m not really sure what the point of writing this is, but the only people I’ve spoken to so far are my mum and my wife, and I just feel I need to have a bit of a rant/ramble into the aether. TL;DR - Life’s a bitch. Covid i...

funkmasterp

Posts: 13554

Free Member

This is such a great thing to read 👍🏼

Posted : 07/05/2020 12:16 am

vicksplace

Posts: 163

Free Member

Glad to hear it Scott. Best wishes.

Posted : 07/05/2020 2:49 am

Poopscoop

Posts: 16526

Full Member

Oh heck yes!

So, so glad to hear your dad is in the mend.

Truly fantastic news mate.

Posted : 07/05/2020 3:17 am

Malvern Rider

Posts: 5182

Free Member

👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼 smashes like 👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼

Posted : 07/05/2020 3:35 am

BigM

Posts: 103

Free Member

Good news, wishing your Dad all the best. Hopefully he'll get to take that trip in the RV.

Posted : 07/05/2020 7:15 am

Forum menu

[Closed] My dad’s in hospital - Covid 19