Life and Death

I haven't really been posting anything of substance lately, or at all actually. I don't know if this will ever change, but for the post I wanted to give everyone an update on what is going on.

My father is currently in the hospital. It is pretty serious. He had a stroke 4 years ago on the left side of his brain. That artery was 100% blocked. His other artery, on the right side, was blocked 50%. Recently, he started to develop eye problems in his right eye, and the doctors realized that this was due to more blockage in that artery. On August 28th, it was found that his artery was now 99% blocked and he was rushed into surgery.

The surgery cleared up the artery, but the rush of blood into his brain was too much and he had a hemorrhagic stroke. He was placed under heavy sedation while he was connected to a respirator. During this time he had no movement in his left side of his body, but could move his right arm up and down, and squeeze his hand. He then received a tracheostomy that allowed him to start breathing on his own and for him to come off his sedation. Unfortunately, he never improved. More ct-scans and an mri showed that he had yet a 3rd stroke. This time an ischemic stroke that has disabled his entire right side of the brain. This is not good.

My dad, if he recovers, will never even remotely live a life that resembles once he used to live. The doctors have told me that it is even a slim chance that he would live a life where he is even moderately disabled. Instead, his life will consist of breathing tubes, feeding tubes, and a long and slow rehab that might not even see him ever get out of bed. My dad would not want to live that type of existence. That is something he has made clear.

So that leads us to today, 2 and a half weeks after he entered the hospital. He is critical, but stable at the moment. My mother. my sister, and myself have a decision to make soon. I've made my mind up, and that is to respect my dad's wishes. Seems like the logical choice to me, right? I think my mom is on board too, but I'm not sure my sister is. I can't blame her though, as she is getting married in 3 weeks. So we'll see what happens.

All I can say is this though...My dad is a great man. He has lived a life that has accomplished much. He has touched many in a positive way, and has made an impact on the world. That is something that he can be proud of. I know that I am proud of him.