He is 86 yrs old. He fell, got an infection of his leg, was hospitalized, released early and not healed, got way worse, had to be readmitted, then on second admission got pneumonia. He was released early once again with a “touch of pneumonia”, went home, was ok for a bit, then took a dramatic turn for the worse and he had to be readmitted again. He’s currently in the ICU and is being intubated, otherwise he’s going to stop breathing. Underneath, he’s actually quite healthy for his age, but pneumonia in the elderly is never good. I’ve been up here at the house lately because he can’t be left alone and my Mom is working full-time still. Two nights ago, he could not stand up and my brother and I had to lift him into bed. Yesterday morning, the nurse came, he was turning blue and he had 50 According the pneumonia risk indicator, he seems to have decent prognosis because he lacks underlying problems. One problem is that hospital-acquired pneumonia is worse than other kinds for some reason. Three weeks ago, he was in pretty good shape. He was home alone most days, happy, watching TV happily and often excitedly, reading voraciously (A book a day!), going places in the car as a passenger, and walking around, sometimes with a cane. He took that fall and he’s just plunged downhill after that. Strange. We are all hoping that he pulls through, but they call pneumonia the old man’s friend.
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I hope your dad recovers and co ntinues living what sounds like a very active and fulfilling life at that age. He sounds too vital to get that friendly with pneumonia yet.
Sorry to hear that. What’s ‘hospital-acquired pneumonia’? Is that a euphemism for pneumonia arising from an infection acquired in hospital due to an inadequate hygiene regime?
No one knows why people get pneumonia in the hospital. In part it is being flat on your back, not moving around and being filled with fluids 24-7. It’s like pouring water on a sponge with the moving around being a way to drain the sponge.
Also, hospitals are full of bugs and you can get all sorts of infections just by being in a hospital, especially if you are very ill. I do not think that an inadequate hygiene regime is at all necessary.
Have you ever heard of cryonics? You should have that for your Dad and then he can live forever!
Bit on the expensive side, Mike.
Like a hundred grand, but if you want your dad to be around in 50 years than it’s well worth it –especially considering the fact it’s been used for over 40 years!
If pity starts to consume you, Robert, remember you will also die one day. If it grieves you to see your father’s life ending, remember yours will also end. It’s how things are meant to be. If it’s time to part ways, let the man go in peace. Do not trouble him with your fears, because he probably fears death less than you and in dying he teaches you how to do the same. Go and say to him everything is going to be ok with you, and he should no longer worry about you. Say to him how important he was to you, and let it go. A day will come you will have to let things be. Start learning how to do it now.
After the hard days you will have again good memories.
I hope this message will have no use for you. Not today, not tomorrow. May it help give you strenght at the right time and may that time be far from now.
May your father have all the luck he needs, Bob.
I am praying for your father. Has he accepted Jesus as his Savior?
My condolences
No, he has not, Shawn. He is doing a lot better now, but his condition is still critical. I think he is going to make it. That guy is strong as a horse. My brother compares him to a great white shark – indestructible.
Anonymous and Rob, no one has to do die! Cryonics is a serious thing. It’s been around for over 40 years and over 200 people are currently preserved, with thousands of others on waiting lists. My friends dad works at one in Clinton Township, so that’s how I know all this information.
Simon Cowell, from American Idol, said that he’s going to pay for cryonics when he dies.
The hope is then that in about 30-50 years when stem-cell research, genetic engineering, and nanotechnology is available, that we will be able to live forever!
sorry to hear about your father Robert, I hope everything works out as best as things can.
Peace
E
Hey, Simon Cowell could be with us for eternity! That makes the case for death, I think.
Bob, I could say, I hope your dad recovers and all will be well. But you know 86 is a fairly advanced age,and as you have described, he lived a pretty productive(reading a book a day, if that ain’t something, i don’t know what is !!) and happy life until now? Right? There does come a time when it just is over, time up !
You know Bob, I am going through much of the same. And I have no brother or sister to rely on. I am all alone , no car (and the parents –80 and 83) live 100 km away from me! To make matters worse, I am going through a health crisis myself at the moment ( you know about that, we talked on IM).
Two years ago my mom ended up in hospital because of trouble with her , hmmm damn, i don’t even know the correct english word for it, arthroses I think. In any case, she ended up with pneumonia acquired in the hospital, but to complicate matters, she had to be send him immediately, when the hospital was locked down, because of ‘C Difficile’, some kind of intestinal killer germ. Anyways , some nurses came and did check ups at home and I was there for 3 weeks to make sure she took the right meds ,etc (she would have never managed without me) . Long story short, my mom recovered just fine, due to her being basically healthy, just like your dad. But her lot is not an easy one, as now my das was diagnosed with Parkinsons. So this 80 yr old woman is looking day and night after him, taking care of the house, cooking, cleaning, finances, etc….What do I really want to say with all this? Hmmm…am not so sure myself….except that I think there is a time for everything, and I think that if my dad died , it would be a release for him and my mom! I am not a callous person, Bob.
Should your dad recover and be sane and relatively healthy in body and mind, then that will be so wonderful. If not, I hope you all don’t go through too much suffering. I think you understand me? I am not always very good at expressing myself. I better stop now, I know this is not a ” oh i wish all the best”, etc….kind of comment, but its honest .
Life is such a roller coaster of up and down. Man, do I know it !!!!
I wish you patience and strength.
In friendship , from your ‘short tempered german canadian, lol’
“No, he has not, Shawn.”
That is too bad. Really. You should talk with him about that…
Sorry to hear that your father is ill. I hope that he makes a recovery.
I lost my father in 2007. He was a very fit person, would walk for an hour everyday. Then he got lymphoma. He was 82 at the time. He refused chemotherapy! Well he kept up his spirits, continued walking and the Doctors said that he went into natural remission.
At the age of 84 his heart was slowing and not pumping properly. He all of a sudden slowed. He stopped walking, if he stood up too fast he would faint (because the blood was not pumping the blood fast enough to his brain), his legs began swelling with fluid, again related to the heart.
Like you we all helped out. He became very dependant and he did not like that. Unfortunately in the end his heart gave out.
Robert I am hoping that if your Dad has a strong heart he may be able to beat this illness. I hope your Dad remains positive.
I hope he makes a speedy recovery.
Treasure your time with him. My parents passed away and I wish i’d made more time to be with them.
Good luck Rob…
so sorry to hear this. i wish you the best.
Common shawn, dont start converting people at the end of their life…
Rob, what happens, happens… and you understand what I mean my friend.
I very much hope your father gets well soon.
Hello Bob!! I guess I’m leaving this comment on this particular forum, simply out of irony. I read your “Beyond Highbrow” article. Although very opinionated, I must admit, it was very well written. You sure know how to capitalize a letter at the beginning of a sentence, as well as put a punctuation at the end. I also noticed that you have a habit of using quotation marks and bolding words like “CLAIM”. I must say, very cute. You also made a comment stating that although Negritos ( which means little BLACK people),etc look black, they are NOT( cute emphasis on the capital “NOT” by the way) black. They are simply the descendants of the first group that left AFRICA. I TOTALLY ( see I can capitalize letters too, lol) get your point brother. I try to tell people all the time; although I was born in Ft. Lauderdale, have lived in Broward County my whole life, which means I still currently live in Broward County, I am NOT a Floridian. LOL. Being a “WHITE” (since you are obsessed with race) ex freemason, the FACT is this, the ONLY reason Whites want to mingle into Africa, make a division between the groups, and claim North Africa, is simply to claim hold of Egypt. Point blank PERIOD (man i just love this CAPS thing, it really emphasizes points. Thanks for teaching your strategy big guy.).SKULL EXPERIMENTS, are NOT accurate, and will NEVER be.What IS accurate is the different types of melanin. Type 2 (OCA2) melanin if found to be the basic component of melanin in ALL OF THE GROUPS THAT YOU “CLAIMED” AREN’T BLACK. But hey, since you already “done did the research my nigga”( I just love how you get cute with ‘Afro American’ Ebonics. PRICELESS), then guess you MUST be right. LOL. Keep playing with your skulls, and make sure to post more. And please make an article on how I’m NOT a Floridian, it’s SO annoying, lol.
Now, as far as the irony. You said your father was sick back in 09. Well, being that this is near the end of 2013, I was wondering if he became worm food yet? If so, lets pull his SKULL out of the grave and figure out a way to link it with the negritos, eh? That should really annoy those Afro Centrist huh? Hey but first, make sure you apologize to the worms for interrupting their supper, or breakfast, skull fest, idk, whatever you call it.Um kay pumpkin? Judging by your past strategies, I’m assuming you might tell me that I am banned. I mean, who cares? Once I clear my cache, I wont even remember this forum. Then it will be off to trumping another idiot. LOL, putting somebody in checkmate and NEVER reading their response is the best. So I guess what I’m saying is, just because somebody’s NOT white, originate from AFRICA, are called NEGRITOS ( ‘NEGR’ from BLACK, and ‘ITOS’ denoting little people), doesn’t mean that they are white. It just doesn’t work like that. I TOE TOE TORRY 🙁
Ok you worthless nigga, banned. How is your stable of hos doing, pimp daddy? Go back to your bottle and sitting in front of the liquor store, nigga.