In the still of the Night...

This spring my dad has been struggling with repeated bouts of pneumonia and was just never able to kick it. It raised some eyebrows for me but I didn’t want to freak him out of get my mother all worked up so I didn’t mention anything (that the cancer could be back). So when he was down with it a few weeks ago and was sent home (he should have been admitted for IV antibiotics seeing this was his 3^rd round … in my opinion) I got nervous. And this uneasiness with his health only got worse last night when my mom called at 10pm to say they were going into the emergency room at St.Vincents--- WTF. Lucky for me (being the control freak that I am) I was working literally a hundred feet away at the hospital next door so as soon as my shift was over I scooted to their ER and met Mary and Carlos in the waiting room. My mom was in the back with my dad but I wanted to get the scoop before I went busting in there (no not really). It turns out that over the last 24 hours he was experiencing progressive pain while turning his head, when he was getting up from a lying position and literally any movement involving his neck. All I could think was Sh*t… here we go again. Not to mention that it was roughly 6 months ago that my mom had to call the ambulance to come and pick him up for the exact same symptoms--- his body felt frozen and he couldn't move. (FYI: the main reason I was worried was when they did his esophagectomy a few years back they literally took the top portion of his stomach and sewed it to what was left of his throat. At that time they were not certain that they got all the cancer so there was a chance any left in the stomach (which is not in his nonexistent throat) could revisit him. This would explain the tenderness in his neck upon movement because a mass could be pressing on his spinal cord creating the pain and general immobility) But take a deep breath because I was wrong--- all that worrying for nothing- and thank God for that. The girls and I get to keep him here with us for a little while longer  :)  Over the next few days he will be on some pretty hefty pain killers to take the edge off as well as some anti-inflammatory to take down the swelling in his neck and shoulders. It was weird to see him all doped up again in the emergency room. I was having flashbacks to the days when he was on morphine and “Pot-pills” just to get through his day… I don’t think any of us miss that (even though he could be funny as hell). He is counting down the days to retirement--- Jan 1^st 2013.