My Dad, A Fire, and a Cracked Rib

First, thank you to everyone who has left comments both on mine and Keith's blogs. It meant a lot to both of us. The blogosphere is so awesome.

My dad came home from the hospital today. He is looking and feeling so much better. Lots of color in his face, walking really well and talking a lot. Obviously, he's still really really tired but the worst is over. Lots of meds to take so I made him a big chart - such a Virgo/dorky thing I know - but he liked it so that's all I care about.

My bro and sis-in-law went back to Tucson yesterday. Keith is in a play and had a performance at noon. They'll be back on Thursday to help out as well.

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We have a lot of family lore that is hysterical but none is as famous as the Great Kitchen Fire of (circa) 1978. Since it's Dad Week, it's only appropriate that I tell this story (with dad's approval of course, plus he's sitting right next to me). Of course, he is the main player.

For many many many years, my dad would get irritated if we brought up this story or told it to others. For us, all we could do is laugh while we told it. About a month ago, I asked dad if I could put it on my blog. He actually laughed a bit and said, "Yeah, but which version are you going to write?" Read on....


One Sunday morning, my mom, brother and I were sitting in the living room watching something on tv. I remember it being after church so we were all in our Sunday best.
My dad used to make these huge Sunday breakfasts. He put some bacon grease in a pan to heat up on the stove (yes, he ate like this for a little while in the 70's but stopped a longg time ago). He forgot about it and took a shower. Note - accounts vary about who put the grease on, my mom or dad...and why my dad took a shower after church..i don't remember him going that morning, just me, mom and keith).


Anyway, the three of us were in the living room when I noticed that the dining room wall was reflecting a flickering orange light from the kitchen. I asked my mom, "Why is the dining room wall orange?" With that, we all ran in the kitchen. The stove was on fire. My mom yelled at me, "GO GET YOUR DAD!"

I ran into their bathroom, opened the shower door and yelled, "DAD, THE STOVE IS ON FIRE!" My dad to this day remembers that part well. Luckily, I don't remember actually seeing him in the shower, whew..eek. What I do recall next is running back into the kitchen and seeing my mom trying briefly to put the fire out with water. Next, my dad comes running through the foyer naked except for a towel and dripping wet.

This is where the family controversy starts:

My memory: Dad hits the slick linoleum floor running, slips and loses his towel in the process and proceeds to slide the length of the kitchen, and slam into the kitchen door with his body. He gets up, yells at my mom for putting water on an oil fire while simultaneously grabbing baking soda and puts the fire out....naked.

Keith: Dad slips and falls, barely slides, gets up, grabs the baking soda and puts the fire out. No recollection of him being naked or yelling at my mom. Violently disputes that he slid all the way across the kitchen floor. Doesn't remember going to church that morning.

Mom: Remembers getting yelled at about the water on the oil fire. Says my dad slid through the foyer, from one end of the kitchen to the other and out the door into the carport naked. Doesn't think we went to church that morning.

Dad: Remembers me seeing him naked in the shower while yelling the stove is on fire and running wet wearing only a towel into the kitchen. He remembers slipping and sliding (but doesn't remember how far) while the three of us stood next to each other watching him slide by us. Doesn't recall yelling at my mom about the water on the oil fire or how he put it out. Maybe it's because he cracked two ribs. Doesn't remember going to church.

So here's the thing. We were all in his hospital room the night before his surgery talking about this. While laughing/bickering about whose story was right, I told everyone I was going to blog about this and have my awesome readers decide. So it's up to you to pick the version you like the most. Whichever one has the most votes will be the official family story.

Tired. Time for bed. Dad and I are going for a walk down the street and back. 30 minutes a day..

Update on My Dad

I finally have a few minutes to sit down and blog a bit. My dad is doing well. He is now out of the cardiac icu which is wonderful. He did extremely well during the surgery which his doc attributes to his healthy lifestyle and positive attitude.

This week has been really tough seeing my dad in pain..so many tubes coming out of him..getting him up out of bed to walk..but as of today he got his last tube out. He is only on oxygen now for the duration of his hospital stay. Hopefully he'll get out on Monday but we'll see.

The nurses in the icu were phenomenal. We were so impressed with them. My dad was very interested in each and every one and made it a point to get to know them all. They all thought he was soo cute. None of us wanted him to leave the icu because they took care of him so incredibly well. The nurses on his current floor are fine but nothing like the icu nurses. I need to pick up a card or flowers as a thank you to them.

My brother, sis-in-law, and I have been trying to help my mom all week but it's been tough. She's pretty stubborn and set in her ways so she's still trying to do everything herself. I think we've worn her down a little though because today she let my brother and sis-in-law run errands for her. Keith has been taking care of the pool and did a little yard work for her as well. Baby steps with her, I tell ya.. Paul and Hunter drove down last night to help which has been great.

My parents started remodeling my old room about 6 months ago and since it still isn't done, I called a friend of mine who owns a construction company to come finish it tomorrow. My mom wasn't too thrilled but I took her to Lowe's today to get the rest of the materials. My dad is relieved though. I just didn't want to have him worry about any of it when he comes home.

We're all pretty stressed so there has been the occasional bickering at one another which is bound to happen with all of us in the house together. Example: After everyone was home from the hospital, we went out to dinner last night which turned out to be a disaster. Long story short - I wanted to hide under the table and pretend I wasn't related to both my mom and Piper. I felt sooo sorry for our waiter.

Pip and I will be here another week. My mother in law watched her for a few nights which was heaven for her since she doesn't get to see Pip as often as she'd like. Luckily she wants her back more this week which works out well so I can help after my dad gets home. My brother and his wife need to leave for Tucson tomorrow at 8am. He's in a play which starts at 12pm so they need to hustle out of here. Paul and Hunter will drive back to Vegas on Monday.

That's about it for now. Need to go outside and paint chair rails and crown moulding so my friend can install tomorrow. I think it might rain in a few hours, great.

ps. we've been writing down all the funny things my dad has said in the hospital. Since some of them were drug-induced, they've been hysterical. I'll have to save that for my next post.

pps. thanks to the 19 or so people who voted for me on hotblogger.com. just had a chance to check it. As they always say, maybe next year.

Prayers for My Dad

My dad had a quadruple bypass today. This came out of nowhere so we're all still in shock. He's in a lot of pain but did very well in the surgery so he should have a full recovery. The best news of all is that he had absolutely no heart damage at all..Just very blocked arteries.

Yesterday my mom called me mid-day at home. Pip and I had just come home with groceries and I almost didn't answer the phone. So glad I did. I knew instantly something was wrong when I heard my mom trying to compose herself to talk. They had gone to dinner the night before when my dad starting getting chest pains. My mom took him to the emergency room. He was admitted right away. Yesterday morning after several tests, they determined 3 of his arteries were at least 60% blocked. Since my dad is healthy, eats right and takes lots of walks, they think it was from all of the smoking he did for almost 30 years. He stopped about 20 years ago but it was too late. The damage was done.

After I hung up with my mom, I called my brother, then my husband. I picked up Hunter after school, came home, packed up Piper and me then drove from Vegas to Phoenix in record time. I felt horrible for leaving Hunter but he started school yesterday and I didn't want to yank him out without knowing exactly what was going on with my dad. He's 14 so he can take care of himself after school until Paul comes home.

5 hours later, I dropped Pip off at my mother-in-law's and raced to my mom's house. It was about 11pm at that point. My brother had come in from Tucson, we were all emotional and exhausted so we went to bed.

This morning we got up at 5:30a to be at the hospital by 6:15a. My dad was going into surgery at 7:30 so we wanted to spend some time with him before he went in. Long story short- his surgery was rescheduled till 12pm. My uncle (dad's brother) came so we all spent the morning with my dad laughing and talking. My dad was in a great mood, joking with the nurses and us. He said he was ready to get this done and just start feeling better. He'd been fatigued for so long now which we now know was attributed to this.

Watching him go into surgery was one of the scariest moments of my life. Seeing him afterwards was even worse. My dad, my daddy. Looking so pale and frail and even worse seeing him in so much pain was more than my mom, brother and me could bare. We were there when they took the breathing tube out which was so rough for him. They told him not to talk for awhile but he tried to talk right away. My dad loves to talk. It made us all smile.

My oldest son Jake came to the hospital so my dad go to see him for a bit. He is 19 now and moved back to Phoenix after he graduated from high school. My ex-husband Mike (the boys' dad) even came and sat with us awhile while my dad was in recovery. That in itself was huge for all of us.

They ended up taking 2 veins out of my dad's legs instead of one because they were weak. The veins are needed for the bypasses. In the end, they did the quadruple instead of the triple but as I said, he sailed through it as best as a patient could. He was breathing great after the tube was out, his blood work looked great, his nurses were amazing so even though we were extremely upset seeing him in so much pain, we knew he was in good hands. He has 6 weeks of recovery ahead of him but the hardest part is over.

I'm here at my mom's now getting ready for bed. Don't know next time I'll post..Please send prayers for my dad. He's going to need them for the days ahead.