Good Friday 2005, ?A Day to Fast and Abstain?

Dad had a close call late yesterday. He was in the MICU (Medical
Intensive Care Unit - pronounced mi-Q by the nurses). They moved him to
the 3rd floor and the excitement must have caused a mild heart attack.
He finally stabilized. Mom slept at the hospital last night; the nurses
set up a cot. My sister is spending the day with her.

We were informed that he had an attack in the past. We can trace it to
when he passed out while staying in Friends Hospital. They rushed him
to Nazareth Hospital were mom and I found him alone, half clothed,
heavily sedated and strapped down in a room. He heaved with each
breath. You can imagine how we felt to find him like that. How can I
blame my mom for not wanting him to go to a nursing home, they're
horrible too.

He was left alone in a hospital room without supervision to wait for
transport to University of Pennsylvania's psychiatric ward. I'm sure he
fought the medical personnel. Aren't they trained for that? How could
they assume that because he came from Friends Hospital he didn't have a
real medical problem? I think hospitals see an old person and assume
they have no one to look out for them. U of P diagnosed that his heart
operated at 20% efficiency. He obviously had the problem for years and
paced himself. He always took naps. After his time at U of P, mom
brought him home. That was over 3 years ago.

My husband is at work. My 15 year old is helping his aunt prepare for
Easter. I'm home with the 5 year old cleaning. Today it was easy to be
meditative from 1:00pm to 3:00pm. I have no holiday spirit.