ChemicallyEngineered
11-07-2012, 07:47 PM
Sorry I haven't been around but last Sunday I lost my father. He was just 61. My mother called my wife and she woke me to say my she thinks my dad had a seizure and the paramedics are working on him. I head over and the are carry a stretcher out of the front door. I didn't think he was on it. I park my car and come out from between the cop cars and I see that he is indeed on it and he is not conscious. They are doing chest and compressions and then I see them defibrillate him. I turn to the cop who has been a lifetime friend and say" oh my god, joe?!" He says " go be with your mom". I knew it was bad. I run up the steps and get to my mom and I just drop. The ambulance doesn't turn on the lights and they back slowly out of the driveway. My heart sinks even further, I know this drill. My brother is still a minute or two away so we wait for him. When he gets in the driveway I fill him in and he screams "fuck". We were both volunteers in the ambulance corp when we were younger so we know its grim. We get to the hospital and the doc behind asking all sorts of questions so my first thought is he is going to tell us dad is brain dead because he was down for at least 20-30 minutes before he got to the hospital. Then they tell us despite everything they tried his heart never responded and he never came back. It was a massive heart attack and he was gone the minute he put his head down on the kitchen counter.
Here's what happened that morning. They woke up and my dad went to the bathroom and then headed back to bed. He instantly shot back up and was breaking out in a cold sweat. He went out on the deck to get some air and vomited. He came back inside and my mom told him to sit down at the counter. He sat down put his head down and mom rubbed his back. She called his name and he didn't respond. She looked at his face and his tongue was hanging out. She dialed 911 and they had her start mouth to mouth after putting him on the floor. The ambulance barracks are literally a 1/4 mile down the highway. When they arrived she called my brother because he lives 20 min away and then me because I am only five minutes away.
My dad was a heavy smoker who never went to the doctors unless he was sick which was only once or twice a year. He showed no warming signs before that morning. He worked construction and just 3weeks ago had helped me build a 40' walkway. The moral of the story is that everyone needs to work closely with their doctor. I found out that six men across four generations of my fathers family died the EXACT SAME WAY. I will be making a doctors appointment Monday. I want to share the eulogy I gave because everyone there loved it. I will probably post it in the next few days as time permits.
Here's what happened that morning. They woke up and my dad went to the bathroom and then headed back to bed. He instantly shot back up and was breaking out in a cold sweat. He went out on the deck to get some air and vomited. He came back inside and my mom told him to sit down at the counter. He sat down put his head down and mom rubbed his back. She called his name and he didn't respond. She looked at his face and his tongue was hanging out. She dialed 911 and they had her start mouth to mouth after putting him on the floor. The ambulance barracks are literally a 1/4 mile down the highway. When they arrived she called my brother because he lives 20 min away and then me because I am only five minutes away.
My dad was a heavy smoker who never went to the doctors unless he was sick which was only once or twice a year. He showed no warming signs before that morning. He worked construction and just 3weeks ago had helped me build a 40' walkway. The moral of the story is that everyone needs to work closely with their doctor. I found out that six men across four generations of my fathers family died the EXACT SAME WAY. I will be making a doctors appointment Monday. I want to share the eulogy I gave because everyone there loved it. I will probably post it in the next few days as time permits.