24

For me there will always be a new meaning to 24 hours! On Wednesday, July 15th Dennis woke up around 4:30 am with a familiar pain in his kidney area. He woke me about 7:30 am and told me he thought he was passing a kidney stone. He started downing water. Coincidentally, he had a doctor's appointment with his back doctor at 8:45 am. At that appointment, the pain became so intense that he left during the exam, called me and said he needed the phone number of his Urologist. Dr. Labaski told him to come right in. When I met him at Dr. Labaski's office, the news was much different than either one of us anticipated. He told us, Dennis didn't have a Kidney Stone, he thought he had a Pulmonary Embolism. Naively we replied, "Oh thank goodness, it's not a kidney stone!" The doctor said, "Yeah, you need to go to emergency right now!" In emergency, we were quickly escorted to a room where myriads of tests were performed. The diagnosis was indeed a Pulmonary Embolism. The doctors reported that there were several blood clots in his right lung. Now the fear set in, as well as intense pain for Dennis! The man who prides himself on never needed pain meds even after back surgery was begging for more morphine. By 5 pm, Den was finally admitted to AltaView Hospital. His pain continued through the day and into the night until the next morning. After that, the blood thinners that they put him on started to work and the pain subsided as the minutes ticked on. Tristen came to the hospital on Wednesday around 1 pm to hold my hand, give comfort to her dad and make sure his room was all sterilized. Kim watched her 4 kids all day along with 4 of her own. One of the blessings of being a member of the Church is I was able to call on my son, Treavor and two dear friends, Rulon Horne and Paul Seppi to give Dad a blessing that evening. It was both a comfort to Dennis and myself. The rest of the family had to bit their fingernails and kneel in prayer from long distances. I know it was particularly difficult for those who couldn't be there, but we felt your love and prayers!
It's Sunday now and Dad attended church and his pain is virtually gone. No pain meds, just the blood thinners that he will need to take for another six months or so. Whew! I just feel grateful today!