Update

Thanks SO much for all the good wishes, everyone. My dad's in the hospital but is doing fine. He's supposed to have an MRI later today and (hopefully) an echocardiogram. After both tests are done and if he's still feeling okay, Ruth and I can take him home.

I took the photo at the top of the page a couple of hours before I heard about Dad's stroke; I was doing a photo shoot of our friends' baby (SO cute!). You can see additional photos from the shoot in this Flickr set.



After dinner, Ruth called to let me know what happened. Jeff drove me to the hospital so I could keep Dad company in the waiting room. Apparently he had been in the mall earlier in the day when he suddenly got dizzy. He went to see a doctor, who sent him to Emerg after Dad had problems during a cerebellar function test ("touch my finger then your nose, then repeat as fast as you can")...he had no problems with one arm, but did with the other.

I'm not sure what the Emergency ward in U.S. hospitals is like, but here's what basically happened to my Dad:

- Arrived at around 7 pm and after being briefly questioned at Triage, was told wait in the main waiting room, which was packed with unhappy people, some of whom had been waiting 10 hours or more. One fellow in handcuffs arrived with two police escorts; he was whisked in.

- 9 pm: Dad's name was called and he registered, was given a white plastic bracelet with his name and other registration info, asked to go back to the main waiting room.

- 2:45 am (yes, nearly 6 hours later), his name was called again. He was taken to a smaller waiting room.

- 3 am (approx): He was taken into an examination room, where he lay on a stretcher and had his vitals taken. Blood pressure was fine, according to a nurse, and said that a doctor would be coming. I told Dad he should try to get some sleep, so he did. I sat in a nearby chair.

- 4:20 am: The doctor came, looking somewhat harried; apparently he was the only one on the Emergency floor that night. He asked Dad some questions and also had Dad stand up and try walking; Dad had trouble keeping his balance. The doctor told Dad to lie down again and said he wanted to do some more tests.

- ?? (forgot to write the time down): Dad was given an electrocardiogram and take by wheelchair to get a CT Scan. The technician let me sit in the booth while it was being done and I have to admit that despite my worry about Dad, it was VERY COOL to see the procedure and watch as a series of x-rays of Dad's brain appeared on the screen. I was so tempted to take out my camera and get some photos because I knew Dad would love to see them later (I still had my camera because of the baby shoot mentioned earlier) but I was worried that the technician would kick me out; he had already hesitated before letting me come in.



- ??: Dad was wheeled to yet another waiting room, this one smaller than the last. We were both incredibly exhausted by this time, but there was no place to lie down. I was also (once again) wish desperately for reading material. All I had with me when I arrived at the hospital: (1) Small serger handbook, already read several times, and (2) A Drowned Maiden's Hair: A Melodrama by Laura Amy Schlitz, which I had just finished on the subway before going to the photo shoot. I gave the latter book to my Dad, and read and reread and rereread the serger handbook in the various waiting rooms. I also found a child's colouring book in the play corner and kept myself awake by making my own contributions:



- ??: I finally got so desperate for reading material that I started grabbing brochures about the hospital, visitor information leaflets, ANYTHING NEW TO READ. I remember thinking longingly of my huge "to read" pile back at home. I got in the wheelchair and wheeled myself around the small room while Dad dozed off, still holding the book in his lap. I had never tried a wheelchair before; it was far easier to manipulate than I expected. Fortunately no hospital staff came by while I was playing with their equipment.



- 6 am: I assumed that the cafeteria was open and went to get breakfast for Dad and me. By this time, Dad had been in hospital waiting rooms for almost 12 hours, and he hadn't had a meal since lunch the previous day. In my hurry to get back, I didn't read the text on the milk carton closely and when we went to pour milk in the insta-cereal boxes back in the waiting room, I was horrified to see BLUE MILK come out. Turns out I had bought Blue Raspberry Milk! Ugh. We still used it, and it wasn't as bad as we expected. But still. BLUE MILK?

- 6:30 am: Doctor came by and said that although the tests all looked clean, he was concerned by Dad's lack of balance earlier on so wanted the x-ray checked out by a specialist. Unfortunately this meant we would have to wait until the morning staff came in.

- 8:30 am: I called Ruth to let her know what was going on, and she was horrified that Dad and I had been up all night. She arrived soon after to take over my shift so I could go home and get some sleep. I took a GO bus back to Toronto; unfortunately Jeff's car was in the shop so he couldn't come pick me up. Thanks to my dad-in-law for picking me up at the station and buying lunch!

Dad ended up basically waiting in the hospital for at least 16 hours after arriving at Emergency. Even when it was determined he needed to be admitted to the hospital, he had to wait around until a bed was free since all the rooms were booked.

This whole system sounds a bit screwed up to me. It's not the staff's fault; the doctor and nurses I saw were all working as hard as they could...there just weren't enough of them.

What's happening now...

The specialist told us that Dad probably had a small stroke or a series of mini-strokes. Dad's still in the hospital (in a shared room), and has an MRI scheduled for this afternoon. He also needs to get an echocardiogram...hopefully this can also be scheduled for today, so he can come home. Fingers crossed!

And again, THANK YOU so much for all your e-mails and good wishes.



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