How I spent my first day of 2011

Well... let's hope the events of today aren't a foreshadow into how the rest of the year is going to turn out, otherwise let's just say I would be scared for what the rest of the year has in store!

After an... interesting night to say the least (and btw, I remembered last night why I *hate* being stuck as the sober one at parties), hubby woke up and went into work this morning as usual while I slept in as long as my pea-sized bladder would let me. As I usually do while eating breakfast, I hopped on Facebook and starting reading down my friend's list newfeed when I saw hubby had posted recently about his dad being taken to the hospital. I told him to text me details ASAP and I continued scrolling down the newsfeed... my brother-in-laws had all posted similar statuses after my mother-in-law had posted one a few hours earlier.

Hubby texted me saying he didn't know what was going on other than what he had saw posted online. I could tell he was frustrated and suggested he text his pre-teen sis since she was most likely with his parents and we weren't sure if his mom was driving or would be able to respond. He was supposed to work til about 4 or 5pm today, but at 1230 he came in through the door. I asked him what was up and he said he was able to get off early and was going to head over to the hospital his parents and sis were at.

We got over to the ER just before 2pm - they had his dad hooked up to a breathing machine with a CPAP mask. They had given him morphine to help take the edge off as he was a bit panicky when he first came in. The doctor's had officially diagnosed him as having congestive heart failure, saying his lungs and heart had fluid in them and they said his kidney's didn't seem to be working properly either.

My father-in-law thought he had pneumonia the last several weeks and just finally got on antibotics for it right before Christmas, however his doctor had told him to go the hospital then to get his heart checked out... he didn't think it was necessary though, however he had trouble breathing all last night and after talking to a doctor friend this morning he was urged to get to the hospital immediately. At this point they're not even sure if he actually had pneumonia or if it was just the early stages of the congestive heart failure, however until the labwork comes back they're still treating him for pneumonia.

They moved him to the ICU ward later in the afternoon once his vitals had stabilized a bit. The big problem is, he likes to talk. A lot. And to everyone and anyone which was causing problems as the more he talked the harder it was for him to breath easily so we all kept having to constantly tell him to stop talking and just focus on breathing.

His condition is currently listed as "guarded" meaning he's stable, however his condition could go either way depending how well he and his system cooperate with everything. Basically the nurses and the doctors had to be very upfront and blunt with him about the fact that yes, he can easily take a turn for the worse if he isn't cooperative, as my father-in-law can be stubborn at times.

We spent most of the later half of the afternoon and all evening in the waiting room as they let him eat a little bit and then he was finally able to sleep and rest for a good bit of the evening. Hubby and I got home just before midnight as we stopped for a late dinner on the way home. It's been a long day. We're planning on going back up tomorrow for a bit too, to see how he's doing.

Please keep my father-in-law and the family in your thoughts and prayers - he's most likely going to be in the hospital for a few days, if not the rest of the week at least. The family all seems to be doing okay - hubby and his brothers are all concerned, but seem to be doing alright; my little sis-in-law (she's 12) seemed a bit worried but was being a trooper - she clung onto hubby a good bit when we first got there; and my mother-in-law is doing okay - right now she's just more annoyed with my father-in-law than anything as he was instructed to go to the hospital and have his heart checked 2 weeks ago and feels that had he listened and gone then this would have been prevented.

What a great way to start the new year off, eh?