My Adventure in Houston, and Bringing my Dad Home for Christmas

Hi Everyone!

I hope y'all are enjoying the holidays. It's been a while for me on the blog, I know, but the holidays and my dad's health have definitely had me hopping.

And by hopping, I mean stressing. And by stressing, I mean tearing my hair out, strand by strand, follicle by follicle, until I accumulated enough to knit myself a pair of matching throw pillows for my couch.

Here's a recap:

A couple weeks ago, we landed in Houston because my dad had landed in the ICU there at MD Anderson.

We found him like this:

That picture is deceiving. He's not really giving the "Thumbs up" sign, nor is he saying, "Turn up the gas!" He's actually saying, "Get this contraption off of me, or I will take these thumbs and use them to gouge your eyes out."


He is a very stubborn man. But we needed to get him out of the ICU, in order for him to continue getting his radiation treatment, and get him home for Christmas.


So my mom and my sister and I made a bunch of goals, and stuck them to the television.

If you blow up the picture, you can see that yes, Diet Coke is considered a solid food, and by exercising, we mean cage fighting. We wanted to make the goals as realistic as possible.


The following day, we got to rip off the goal of "Clear chest x-ray," because take a look at that beautiful x-ray on the left.

The one on the right was the day before, and you can tell it is cloudy with fluid. But the one on the left... brilliantly black.


The smiling nurse is Justin. He was very happy to pose for our multitude of pictures, but he drew the line at climbing in the cage with my dad for a fight to the death. He's getting married in a few months, so I understand his hesitation.


A couple days later, we were able to ditch the flattering yellow garb and take my dad for a walk on the observation deck of the hospital, and we got to rip down the goal of "Overcome Vertigo."

Once he was out of the ICU, we made great strides. He even got to wear actual clothes again.

Last week, against all the odds, he was able to continue with his radiation treatments, complete the round, and return home to us just in time for Christmas.

I'd like to take full credit for his recovery, but the honest truth is it was all him. I couldn't have asked for a better present. 

May your own holidays be excellent, and your chest x-rays clear!

Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year!