Dad: Part Deux

As I said in Part 1, everything changed on November 19th.

My Dad was admitted to the hospital for shortness of breath/side pains. They kept him overnight to run some tests.

My sister sent me a text message informing of the situation and continued to keep me updated. He was in the hospital on Friday with no new updates really (or at least none that I knew of). Saturday, same situation. Sunday, my sisters got word that it was probably cancer, so they again let me know of what was going on.

Monday, I got a text saying it was Cancer.

Wednesday, I was informed that it was Stage 4, very aggressive, and my dad wouldn't have long.

At this point, it had been 6 days since he was admitted to the hospital. I had let a few friends know what was going on, but stayed away from posting things on Facebook and Twitter, as I didn't know how to express all of my feelings without feelings like I would need to explain myself or provide a back story.

The few people that I did let know all, in one way or another, asked me if I was sure about choosing to NOT go see my dad. I was sure. I had thought long and hard about it.

I left work early on Wednesday, as it was all starting to hit me emotionally. I went to my Grandma and Grandpa's house, for a hug and kiss that can only come from my sweet Grandma Brown. After that, I went home to just be. I went to Spin as usual and then headed over to the Harvey house.

Jim and Teresa have been like another set of parents since my Freshman year of High School. They have wiped countless tears, many about my dad and his absence. I was with Teresa when she got word that her dad died of a heart attack just a few years ago. We have been there for each other when it comes to dad's not being there. She is amazing.

Well, Teresa wouldn't take no for an answer. Teresa wasn't pressuring me to be mean or to make me do something that I didn't want to do, she just wanted me to REALLY think about the decision I was making. So, since I am Portuguese, and we are stubborn, I yelled, "FINE, Then we are going right now, for 5 minutes. Right now. Don't give me time to change my mind." She was shocked. We grabbed our purses and jumped in my car to head to the hospital.

I was in slippers. :)

We got to the hospital, and I had mixed emotions. I didn't know how I felt.

I walked into the room, where just my sister and my dad were. I said Hi. He said Hi. I asked him how he was. He mumbled his answer and feel asleep. He couldn't stay awake for long. He was so out of it. After 20 minutes, my step-mom arrived, so Teresa and I left.

I was glad I went.

It was the right thing to do.

I will never know if I would have regretted not going to see my dad. I won't. What I DO know, is that I am glad I went. It felt right.

Thanksgiving and Black Friday were tough.
More on that in Part Tres....