Medical Emergency – My Dad’s in the Hospital

Update 1:

My father was bounced between 3 different hospitals today.

1st hospital: Immediate support for his erratic heart and rapid blood pressure drops. They defibrillated his heart to get it back to normal (the electric shock device). That worked temporarily, returning it to a somewhat stable state.

2nd hospital: They took him to another one with expanded resources and doctors to get a CT Scan and MRI. His heart still goes erratic when he stands and his blood pressure drops to dangerous levels, but he is stable if he isn't standing. They wanted to go to a specialist, so they sent word to another critical care center with the nearest specialist.

3rd hospital: With the specialist and waiting for him to get free to be able to check things out while the other doctors do all the prep work for him.

They made my dad stay awake until 8 p.m. today, lol, so he's now sleeping.

I know many of you are waiting for the epilogue to TO Volume 3, and I might finish it tomorrow if things stay calm. I'm still trying to keep my mom's mind off the emotional turmoil and my grandma is also feeling like she's not doing enough (she's 85 years old!) since she wants to be there for her daughter (my mom).

Writing helps me cope, and the outline is already done—it just needs some editing and for me to consider what information to add. After all, this is wrapping up a lot of things and I'm trying to do it in a new and unique way that I'm sure many of you will love.

But if I end up needing rest or something changes with my dad, I hope you'll understand. Your support means a lot.

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Hey everyone,

I wanted to give you a quick, important update. About an hour ago, my dad was taken to the hospital by paramedics following a serious medical emergency.

Yesterday, he visited the VA hospital where they did an X-ray and discovered a nodule in his lungs. He’s been in significant pain lately, convinced his ribs are cracked or broken, though nothing showed up on the scan. Along with that, he’s been vomiting, drinking less than usual (which is alarming since he’s diabetic and usually drinks a lot of zero-sugar soda), and clearly struggling more than normal.

This evening, he tried to get up to use the bathroom and collapsed. According to my brother, this was the third time he passed out today. He also has a condition where he stops breathing in his sleep for as much as minutes at a time before intaking a huge amount of air, but this time was different—he became completely limp and unresponsive, and for a moment, we feared his heart had stopped.

My brother immediately laid him down to perform CPR. After a few seconds, my dad took a huge gasp of air, and my brother called 911. The paramedics arrived, checked his vitals, ran a heart scan, and determined he needed to be transported immediately—not to the VA, but to the closest hospital. He's there now, with my brother by his side.

I'll be heading down shortly with my mom. She relies on me, just as my brother usually looks after our dad, so we’re trying to manage everything together. She's had a very rough few days, as well.

As for story updates: I might be able to finish editing the epilogue for TO Volume 3 tomorrow. The outline is complete, and I’ve already done some of the editing, but I’ll need to see how things go tonight and tomorrow.

Thank you for your patience and support. I’ll keep you updated as soon as I know more.

—Scott