You want to know why I don't have kids? Because I have to deal with my dad, that's why.
t rant on
He calls me this morning, I ask how he is -- even though his hospital tests yesterday gave him the all-clear -- and he says he feels okay, but he's been having some trouble breathing. He says this as calmly as if he were telling me about what he ate for breakfast.
I tell him that having trouble breathing isn't generally considered a good thing, and he should call his cardiologist. He says, oh, I was going to just wait and see if it went away. And I say, right, it'll either go away or YOU'LL DIE.
He says, it's not that big of a deal. I say, Dad, NOT BREATHING is a pretty big deal so call the damned doctor or I am going to flip my shit right now on the phone with you.
He agrees, a little irritably, to call the doctor, and we get off the phone. I try to calm down from the aneurysm.
Fast-forward to just now. Dad calls, said he talked to the cardiologist, and they said that all the tests yesterday were good, nothing is amiss, they don't think that the breathing issues have to do with his heart, and he should talk to his primary-care doctor.
Then he says, off-handedly, that his breathing troubles are like what he had a month (or 6 weeks) ago, when his primary-care doctor gave him an Advair inhaler.
I'm sorry, I said. He gave you WHAT?
His primary-care doctor didn't definitively diagnose him with asthma, but the symptoms Dad went to him with were definite asthma symptoms. And then he described them to me -- chest tightness, he wakes up at night b/c he's laboring to get a breath, his chest burns when he can't get enough air, etc.
Having had asthma myself, I say, Dad, why didn't you mention to me that your doctor gave you an inhaler for asthma?
Oh, says Dad, after a day or 2 my breathing got better, and I never used the inhaler, so I figured it wasn't asthma.
I say, Dad, if you had told me IN THE FIRST PLACE that your primary-care doctor gave you an inhaler, then when I yelled at you this morning, I would have just told you to use the inhaler and see if it helped.
I am currently slamming my head against my desk and hoping my brain just falls out and rolls away so I don't have to deal with this hand-holding caretaker shit any longer.
Oh, Steph. Your dad's a piece of work all right.
Kids - Parents. Parents - Kids. meh.
Finally talked with J. Mom got more pain meds. The kidney has good blood flow and is thinking about doing its job - just hasn't decided to work full time yet. They say this is not unusual.
I didn't get to talk with mom, though. I'm doing better about that emotionally. BUT both J and DH have asked if I'm driving up there this evening. wtf? It is a 3 hour round trip, with no traffic issues. I have ignored homework since Sunday (with teacher permission) but I can't do that forever. Nevermind caring for my kids and being half alive for work tomorrow. Work - where I'm still doing my job plus covering for my assistant who is still recovering from cancer treatments.
After work, K-Bug and I are going to get mani-pedi's and ignore the world for an hour. We will probably even ignore eachother.
Suzi, it sounds like you need another visit to the North Beach spa. Steph, you too.
Oooh! I found an accounting position at ILM AND a gorgeous townhouse on Treasure Island that wasn't TOO spendy.
Although, I'd rather be in the city and not have to have any cars.
Okay, so. I've spent the last week manically trying to finish my dissertation before I left the country, but to no avail. I'm flying home on Saturday, and my work is coming with me. I have to leave my very useful liberry books here, however. Bugger. Also, have been trying to pack and clean and keep my luggage under twenty kilos so I don't get screwed by Aer Lingus. I have to send a box home to Ireland tomorrow, which will cost fifty quid I don't have, and also go out for goodby drinks with friends. When I get to Ireland, I have to drop boy off to the airport the next day, then try and finish my dissertation in four days before my deadline, but also see everybody at home who wants to see me, seeing as how I haven't been home in six months. Two days after my deadline I have to fly to America to meet lots of new people and also get married. Also while home I have to see about getting a haircut and finding something to wear to a wedding. Mine.
I realise that this is not a very clear timeline, but that is because my brain? She is giving up.
Eek, Jars! Are you sure you don't also have a wife to murder and Guilder to blame for it? Because you sound more swamped than Humperdink!! I hope you find something nice to wear (I can't believe you're getting MARRIED! OMG!!! I feel the need to SQUEEE! Bounce bounce bounce!)
I read "PS I Love You" too! Though I don't really remember it other than that it was Palm Springs and the boy's initials were PS. Huh. And now I've been to Palm Springs. I'm kinda tempted ot read it again. :)
I bought new glasses! Or rather...Hec, you remember the glasses you helped me pick out? I broke them like, two years ago...and my current (less exciting/hot) glasses are scratched up...but when I went to the eyeglasses place, I found the old pair, and said "Want!". Best yet, although the lenses were hella expensive, she gave me half off on the frames becuase my insurance didn't cover any of it (since I didn't get the eye exam done there). $600, but that's less than I spent last time on them...
Then I got completely and utterly soaked walking home through a downpour. Doh.
