raloria

I just got home after about six hours at a local hospital visiting my uncle. He'd gone there to visit our neighbor who was in there for some hip surgery (I think) and got a blood clot in his left leg while he was walking back to his car. They got him into the ER and his leg was all swollen up. My aunt called and told us the news and I took her to the hospital. By the time we got there and hiked through seemingly endless hallways to get to the ER, he'd been taken to the Cath Lab. So we were then taken there and waited for him to have the cath put into his other leg. That took over an hour. Then he was taken to ICU and we followed him there.

He has to stay laying flat on his back and he not allowed to move the right leg and his left leg is totally white from the knee down. Nearly all of his left leg and foot is numb. He was in a lot of pain when we got there and it got steadily worse. He's getting drugs to break up the blood clot in the leg and after that they'll figure out what to do about the aneurysm behind his knee (which he's had for a few years now). They'll try to fix it without surgery first, but if it doesn't work they'll have to operate. Worst case scenario - he'll lose his leg.

It was tough to see him in so much pain, but by the time we were leaving I think they'd finally found some pain killers that were working for him. I hope he's getting some sleep now.

It's like deja'vu for me though. At this same time 3 years ago, my dad was in the hospital (different hospital, however) after having a heart attack. He spent about 2 weeks there, in ICU and he died there. It was so unsettling to walk through the ER and be in another ICU, knowing I was in this same position 3 years ago. To be honest there was a couple of times tonight that I nearly broke down in tears, remembering and having those old feelings of fear again. I know the circumstances are different, but I can't help feeling that once again the situation could turn very dire. I hope that won't be the case. I'm hoping for the best for my uncle, but all the hoping didn't help my dad 3 years ago. All my prayers went unanswered then (which explains how I'm very unsure about God to this day). It's all so eerily familiar though....he's hooked up to all these machines and fluids, in the ICU....it's tough to think positive. Yet deep in my heart, I'm holding onto hope for the best outcome and helping out my aunt as much as possible.

Tomorrow...well, later today, seeing as how it's going on 2 in the morning, I'll take my aunt back to the hospital to see how he's doing.

On one little side note...my uncle is a big Lost fan and even in his painful state in that bed he lamented that he missed seeing the episode that night. I need to get a download of it myself, since I didn't set the DVR to record it. I'll save it and hopefully I'll be able to show it to him on my laptop when he comes home. *is thinking positive*