01.27.05
4:09 p.m.
flesh eating viruses and academic achievements
I�ve been somewhat distant lately.My father was in the hospital and, now I come to find out, nearly died.
He had a life threatening infection and the doctors in the ER said if he hadn�t come in when he did, he would�ve died.
I was informed by his girlfriend�s daughter. I�ve never met her, nor spoke with her prior to this. Here�s exactly how the conversation went. It�s etched into my mind.
�Hi, this is your father�s girlfriend�s daughter. I�m just calling to let you know your father is in the hospital, and just got out of surgery. I mean, he�s not dead or anything. He�s fine.�
�What?! What hospital? What�s wrong? What happened?�
�I�m not sure. I just know he just got out of surgery.�
�What hospital is he in?!�
�I�m not sure. I think the one downtown.� (Ok, sidenote: There are literally 30-40 hospitals in Denver. A majority of which are �downtown�.)
�What�s the number to his room.�
�I don�t know.�
�Well, can you have him call me as soon as possible?!�
�Sure.�
�Um. Ok. Bye.�
I�d like to mention, I was sleeping when she called, so I wasn�t completely coherent. Had I been, I would�ve asked for her mother�s cell phone number, her house number�something, anything. Her last name for Christ�s sake.
The minute I heard her say my father was in the hospital, my heart sank. I�ve never experienced anything like that before. So�empty. It literally hurt. I have never, in my entire life, been that scared. I couldn�t breathe. My body felt numb. And, even though she said he was fine, I couldn�t stop imaging that he was dead, or dying, on a hospital bed, and I wouldn�t find out which hospital in time.
Then, then came the anger. What the fuck was this 14 year old girl doing calling me? Why the fuck didn�t her mother call? Why would anyone call someone, tell them something like that, and then not have any information to give them?!
I was livid. I wanted to make that girl cry like I was crying. Uncontrollably. I wanted to beat her. I wanted to slit her throat. I wanted to maim her. Anything. Anything that would make her feel what I was feeling right now. At 14, you�re old enough to know better.
Almost instantaneously after I hung up the phone with her, Jackie called. It�s as if she knew something was wrong. She got in her car without hesitation and said we�re driving to Denver. She arranged to have her husband call around to hospitals to find my father.
As much as I bitch about her, I do love her. I don�t know what I would�ve done without her.
While she was on her way, I stopped crying long enough to call my brother. The girl had called him, too. Fortunately, he was coherent enough to ask for her mother�s cell phone number. He said that my father was ok, and it was only a boil.
A BOIL?!
What the fuck?! I had just been through 30 minutes of hell, thinking my father was dying, for a boil?!
Just as I got off the phone with him, Jackie pulled up. I walked out to the car, and she was crying. I told her the boil scenario and we both started laughing. Then, we both got pissed. Why did that girl call me for a boil?! Just to be snotty? Just to make me worry?
We plotted revenge involving stalking, mysteriously cryptic phone calls, and the like.
In the end, I finally spoke with my father two days later. It wasn�t a boil. It was a severe infection. The �skin eating virus� type. His entire upper body had started to swell, and he had a temperature of 105 degrees. He had to go to emergency surgery to remove the open wound it has caused, and be put on an antibiotic drip.
He didn�t even have a cut or scratch to start with. It showed up in less than a day and started spreading very quickly.
Luckily, he�s ok now. He still has a nurse coming in every day to change the dressing on his wound, and he�ll be on major antibiotics for a long time. But, he�s ok, and I�m so thankful.
In other news, the pictures from the Illinois trip are back. You can go see them if you�d like (but, you really didn�t miss much.).
Also, not to brag, but it made my day. I received this in the mail today�
