Family Trauma

The last 8-9 weeks my family has been dealing with some devastating illnesses starting with my Aunt Linda's stroke. She is now awake, communicating  and able to move her limbs, so she is well on her way to recovery. By the time my family knew my Aunt was recovering , my family was facing many illnesses that could of led to death.

My Dad has COPD and after ignoring the fact he had pneumonia and congestive heart failure, his right lung collapsed. I visited with my dad earlier that day and it was bad. His respirations were 50-60 shallow breaths per minute, his fingers and lips were blue. I now know he was in respiratory failure and could have died at any minute. My family called 911 twice to speak with a dispatcher  to see what could be done because he is in his right mind and was refusing help. He could of refused and the EMT wouldn't have been able to help at all. By the time I arrived back at Dad's house for the second time he was agreeing to go to the hospital. Honestly I went back the second time to see if he went unresponsive and then call for help. He needed help and needed it now!

My stepsisters took him to the emergency room (I followed with my aunt) and he was so bad the nurses took him right back. The Dr ordered alot of test and xrays before discovering his lung was collapsed. The Dr ordered a chest tube be put in at bedside and it remained in place 9 days. Because he was weak after the ordeal and not able to move much in bed he became debilitated. He spent 3 weeks in the hospital and his care continues at home. He has a nurse visiting him 3x a week, physical therapist 3x a week and a nurse from the Area Agency of Aging. My dad is now on a walker, oxygen and has a catheter ( he can't pee without it). He does have two appointments this week so hopefully we can get some answers why he can't pee and if there's a way to fix it. Dad also has something wrong with his heart so we are hoping we get answers. He is 75 .

My dad is also underweight, severely underweight. He weighed 84 lbs when he was admitted and is up to 97lbs now. He lived alone and had alot of food on hand but I think he was filling up on coffee. His appetite is improving some but he's still filling up on the one thing with no nutritional value, coffee. As he recovers he should get stronger with God's help.

The thought of losing him scares me and I've been spending alot of time with him because most of my life I only had one parent. I pray each day we still have years, I will never be ready to let him go.