Dazed and Confused

I sit here right now feeling a little dazed and confused. I've just had a day that I will never forget.

It all started two days ago. I was at my sisters house, where my Dad now lives and we were discussing some of the work that needs to be done still. She kept saying that she had a migraine headache. But didn't think much of it as she's had them before.

Then yesterday in the morning, I was there and she still had the headache. She said it was getting worse.

I left her to sleep it off a little and went home to sleep myself. When I awoke in time to go into my midnight job, my phone rang. She was in a lot of pain and wanted my help. I really didn't know what I could do for her though and didn't want to be late for work. My sister that cooks all the meals for my Dad stopped by and brought her some over the counter medication and didn't know much more what to do. And still another sister that lives there, sat with her most of the night. She even offered at several points to take her to the emergency room.

This morning when I returned from work, I telephoned her to see how she was feeling. There was no answer so I figured I'd drive over there and see for myself. Suddenly there was a call coming in from her house phone. She was begging me for help and saying something about flooding the bathroom. I put it in high gear and was there in a matter of minutes. By the time I got there, she had managed to call my brother that lives three hours away as well. He called his daughter that lives here locally and she met me there. We found her incoherent and unable to assist us in getting her up and out to the doctor. She insisted to go to the doctor and not the hospital.

One look and the doctor sent us across the road to the hospital. Much to my amazement, we were rushed right in and test were started right away. The conclusion was that she had a brain aneurysm. She had lost control over her entire left side of her body and was fading fast. The doctor informed me that if I'd taken another hour to get her there, she would not have lived.

Their sister hospital 12 miles away has a top notch neurology department and they needed to transfer her. But there was no way she would live that long to get there. They had to induce a coma for transportation.

I met the paramedics at the other hospital and we waited for the drugs to wear off. When they did, she was right back in the pain from earlier and was not able to speak at all. They still have the breathing tube in so her throat didn't close up and suffocate her but she was maintaining life herself.

I was finally able to go home after many, many hours to get some rest (and here I am typing). I am confident that she is in good hands and they will do all they can for her. They are taking another CT scan tonight and we should know in the morning if she will be able to clear this up on her own or if they will have to operate.

At this point we don't know if she will pull through or not. Or if she does, if there will be any brain damage or physical damage. Or if she'll be just fine.

She is 49 years old. She has no living will. And no will. There is no legal power of attorney either. Without her, I would have to put my father back into a senior facility too. As I stated above, I am dazed and confused. One thing I know for sure is, at the end of this, I will have all those documents in place right away.

Are you ready for the unexpected?

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