Dad

This is my dad his name is jack and today he is 79 years old.
This is a special birthday as in his own words last night "I never thought I'd see another".

On 30th December 2005 we were told my dad had bowel cancer, we weren't stupid, he'd lost loads of weight and had aged within months. Still that word scared us. We weren't allowed, according to my dad, to blart (cry), so what if he had cancer, he wasn't going to let it beat him.

On new years eve he still went out to the same working mens club he has for 50 some years and I acted as his driver. It took me ages to get him out of the club as he is so well liked he had people queueing up to talk to him.

In January he went into hospital, his blood count very low, to have tranfusions before his operation. By the time he had spent three days running upto his operation everyone on the ward knew him. Like throughout his life, my dad had made sure he knew everyone and they knew him. On the night before the operation we all visited nervously but he sat in his bed joking and insisting on doing a dance for his grandkids to show off his "sexy" surgical stockings.

The operation went well and although left with a colostomy bag (my dad calls it his lucky bag) the doctors were confident all the cancer was removed and were amazed at his quick recovery. My son and I cried with laughter as he recounted the hallucinations he was experiencing from the drugs.

As I am from a large family (there were 7 of us before my brother died) visitng my dad was run with military precision and my shift was to go straight from work and take my mother home after. Despite her own ill health she insisted on spending the whole of visiting with him.

One Weds night I was running late and called dads bedside phone to tell him, he didn't answer. So I called the ward, "please tell jack to answer his phone" I asked. Val, his favourite nurse went quiet, "has your mum not called you?" she asked. I said no. She went on to explain, she wasn't allowed to say much over the phone, but that my dad had been ill all afternoon and they thought he had a "cardiac episode", he was now in high dependency.
I drove to the hospital as quick as I could to find my mum, my brother and two elder sister outside, they had been waiting to tell me what had happened when I arrived to visit. My mum was concerend about upsetting me and me then having to drive. We spent an hour waiting for the doctors to work on my dad and then come to see us. They informed us my dad's kidneys had failed and the next 24 hours were critical, obviously we were devastated! We were allowed, in small grooups to see him.

Seeing him was scary, he was hooked up to loads of machines which were beeping, his heartrate and BP were very low. As I walked up to his bed the first thing he said was "don't you bloody blart" which made me laugh. He said "I've told him I'm going nowhere, if i'd have gone down that hole I'd be a gonner. But I'm not bloody going! Leaving him there that night is one of the hardest things i have ever done! (we never found out who HE was)

Bloody hell just realised this is becoming war and peace!

Anyway...
By the next day his kidneys were working, and it turned out he had a major infection, which combined with his age had totally knocked the stuffing out of him. He spent his days in HDU moaning to get back to the ward and his beloved Val, the nurse who had quickly recognised his decline in health and got help to him. He and we know she saved his life. he was moved back after a week, and a week later was home.

He is now back to pre cancer weight, back to going out with his mates on weekends and being the life and soul of every family gathering. he once again acts as carer to my mum and a source of entertainment to his many grandchildren and great grandchildren.
In his words he has a new lease of life and he's going to live it.

Happy Birthday dad, I am so proud to have you as mine!