When It Rains...

I know I’ve been a bit absent lately. But when it rains... it pours. Last week, my dad fell over in his apartment. He’s been sick, refused to go to the doctor, so he took a header onto the floor.

The guy’s got 1/3 of the blood volume he’s supposed to because he has an internal bleed. We begged and pleaded with him to go back to the doctor, but he said he’d rather just “fall over.” Well, he did, and now he’s at the hospital undergoing all sorts of fun procedures. Which brings me to my mother.

My mom has been a smoker for 40+ years. She’s been visibly sick for months – hoarse voice, weight loss, etc. Now, she can barely walk AND she admitted she feels a lump in her throat. We approached her several times over the last several months and you know what she did? You guessed it! She refused to see a doctor.

Well, now that the woman can’t speak or talk, my sister and I told her we made a doctor’s appointment for her on Monday, and she had two choices -- she could come quietly, or we’d carry her down the stairs against her will. Since the woman weighs about 100 pounds now, it wouldn’t be too hard. She finally acquiesced. And her reason for finally cooperating? “I know I’m going to die soon.”

Has anyone ever heard of two crazier, more dysfunctional people in their entire lives? I don’t understand just sitting around and letting yourself die. All they would have needed were simple procedures before they let their health deteriorate to this point. I’m angry, shocked, and hurt. I’ve been scrambling around like a maniac, spending days at the hospital and evenings filling out power of attorney paperwork.

And I’ve had the lovely task of trying to explain to my 12-year-old how and why his two grandparents have basically killed themselves due to their mental issues and inaction.