Thursday, November 20, 2008

False Alarms

Saturday night, my long lost sister called me to tell me that my dad had a stroke. Apparently our other sister had claimed primary next of kin status and blocked everyone from getting any medical information. So I called Kettering Memorial Hospital far away in the kingdom of Dayton and chatted up my dad. He's got speech issues and was getting frustrated until I reminded him that I've got a two year old and the gift of tongues. Then he chuckled and we muddled through. He wrote a note for the doctors to release his medical info to the kinfolk. As it turns out, the doctors don't really have a clue what's going on. OK. No death. That's good. No diagnosis. Not so good. The treatment plan? Steroids. Speech therapy. Wait and see. It's good to have a plan.

The other false alarm: my home Internet is still down. Not down really. Just so slow that the browser can't even load. Except in the dead of night. So I'm still on a timer which annoys me. I cannot believe how much I do online. My bills. Maps. Comunication for our co-op, Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, school and church activities. Idle curiosity satisfaction. TALKING TO GROWN UPS. (Sorry, didn't mean to yell. I'm calm now. Really.) So, so much to fit into a 60 minute computer reservation.

Living in Limbo Land is lovely. Deep sigh. Deep, deep sigh.

10 comments:

Annette Lyon said...

I would pretty much lose my mind w/out being able to plop down and check something the internet whenver I want to. Glad you're posting again! And I hope your dad's all better real soon.

Heidi said...

Oh, man, here I thought you were back for good! Or at least long enough to really be part o'things. I hope your dad recovers. Your sister sounds like post topic all her own.

Papa D said...

Since I don't spend any time on the internet, especially not blogging . . . Let's just say that I feel your pain.

I hope your dad gets an answer about what's wrong. Not knowing really stinks.

Nutty Hamster Chick said...

Boy that sounds like adding salt to your wounds to not have internet working.

Sorry to hear about your dad. False alarms are not fun, but they are funner than real alarms.

I personally am not a fan of limbo. Don't like any part of it. Not the feeling of not knowing or the feeling of no control. Nope, hope your limbo ends soon.

Jo said...

My mom has dial up, I feel that way at her house. Just not worth getting on. You can pay money and go to Fedex Kinkos and use their computer, or the library, they are for free. Hopefully your dad will be feeling better soon, such a worry.

Thora said...

I'm sorry to hear about your dad - but that's great that he's able to talk already and everything (even muddled). My brother in law, who's only thirty four, had a stroke this past July. Not that you have any time on the computer, but they have a blog about his recovery, toddstroke.blogspot.com

When it all happened, it seemed like he'd never be back to "normal," and although he still has a long way to go, he's been doing great, and remembering like it was at the first helps to realize how far he's come. I'm sure soon you'll be able to have the same experience with your Dad.

I'm also sorry about your Internet - this past year our Internet would stop working for weeks at a time, and this was when I lived in England, in the country, and I was very pregnant. It would drive me CRAZY! The Internet was my connection to family, to life, to people who could put a sentence together instead of just point and demand. It's hard to be apart from the Internet.

Melanie Jacobson said...

We lose our internet connection a few times a day for a few minutes at a time and that's annoying enough. I think I'd spend an awful lot of time at the public library using their computers if it went out completely. I even feel weird being on vacation without internet access, although I'm getting over that.

TheOneTrueSue said...

Oh Jami - I'm so sorry about your dad. I hope they find answers and a diagnosis soon. Limbo is a horrible place to stay for very long.

The Crash Test Dummy said...

So nice to see a new funny witty clever post.

I'm sorry about your dad and your internet though.

The Motherboard said...

I'm sorry about your Dad. I hope they come up with something very soon!

Limbo is not a fun place to be. Unless you're playing it... but even then its debatable!