(no subject)
Dec. 7th, 2009 10:07 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
floatingleafMore snowflake cookies! Thank you, stormatdusk and taelyn_sass! *feels loved*
Also, my mother just called and really scared me. There's something seriously wrong with my dad. He lost consciousness while driving back home from work and ended up in a field. Fortunately, it was very early in the morning (he works the night shift at a factory) and the road was empty, but still... he could have gotten seriously hurt or worse. He's been having those strange blackouts for some weeks now, but they were short and infrequent, so he didn't get too alarmed. His regular doctor has no idea what might be wrong and just keeps trying out new medications on him - with little effect. Anyway... after this incident he did schedule an appointment with another doctor to do some tests, but the earliest date they had available was January 4th. Obviously, until then he is not supposed to drive. And he is afraid that if he takes all this time off, he will lose his job. They have cut down his hours anyway, and at his age (65) he's not very likely to get hired again, should they let him go. So my mom decided she's going to drive him to work for the time being (she is a self-employed cleaning lady, so she can adjust her hours to some extent - though that will mean reducing her own earnings, because she obviously doesn't get paid time off). He normally leaves for work around 4 p.m., and some days she's back home by then anyway, so that's doable. However, driving him back home from work as well means getting up in the middle of the night - and then not having time for a nap, because she usually starts her own work at 6-7 a.m. So what if she falls asleep behind the wheel and ends up in a ditch? There just isn't a viable solution to this situation. If either one of my parents stops working, they will not be able to afford the utility bills and will have to sell the house - but right now, if they can sell it at all, it will be for less than half the original price. So of course they don't want to do it. They'd rather kill themselves trying to avoid it. And they well might.:/
Not to mention the fact that by any reasonable standards, they shouldn't even have to work any more. They have worked themselves silly anyway. And for what? For a house that they don't even have time to enjoy, and that they will have to move out of as soon as one of them gets too sick to pull the yoke. This is ridiculous and wrong and I just... I don't know. And I don't even want to contemplate the possibility of my dad getting seriously ill. I don't think I can deal with it. And I don't think I can deal with my mother's reaction if that happens. It's absolutely terrifying. Also, I might have to get over myself and actually be there for them, more than about once a month. And in my appalling selfishness, I find that terrifying too.:|
Not that I didn't know it was coming, or that I somehow thought they were immortal - but still, I had assumed we had some years to go before their age and/or health issues become a problem that might affect me in any significant way. Well... time to think again.:(
stormatdusk and taelyn_sass! *feels loved* Also, my mother just called and really scared me. There's something seriously wrong with my dad. He lost consciousness while driving back home from work and ended up in a field. Fortunately, it was very early in the morning (he works the night shift at a factory) and the road was empty, but still... he could have gotten seriously hurt or worse. He's been having those strange blackouts for some weeks now, but they were short and infrequent, so he didn't get too alarmed. His regular doctor has no idea what might be wrong and just keeps trying out new medications on him - with little effect. Anyway... after this incident he did schedule an appointment with another doctor to do some tests, but the earliest date they had available was January 4th. Obviously, until then he is not supposed to drive. And he is afraid that if he takes all this time off, he will lose his job. They have cut down his hours anyway, and at his age (65) he's not very likely to get hired again, should they let him go. So my mom decided she's going to drive him to work for the time being (she is a self-employed cleaning lady, so she can adjust her hours to some extent - though that will mean reducing her own earnings, because she obviously doesn't get paid time off). He normally leaves for work around 4 p.m., and some days she's back home by then anyway, so that's doable. However, driving him back home from work as well means getting up in the middle of the night - and then not having time for a nap, because she usually starts her own work at 6-7 a.m. So what if she falls asleep behind the wheel and ends up in a ditch? There just isn't a viable solution to this situation. If either one of my parents stops working, they will not be able to afford the utility bills and will have to sell the house - but right now, if they can sell it at all, it will be for less than half the original price. So of course they don't want to do it. They'd rather kill themselves trying to avoid it. And they well might.:/
Not to mention the fact that by any reasonable standards, they shouldn't even have to work any more. They have worked themselves silly anyway. And for what? For a house that they don't even have time to enjoy, and that they will have to move out of as soon as one of them gets too sick to pull the yoke. This is ridiculous and wrong and I just... I don't know. And I don't even want to contemplate the possibility of my dad getting seriously ill. I don't think I can deal with it. And I don't think I can deal with my mother's reaction if that happens. It's absolutely terrifying. Also, I might have to get over myself and actually be there for them, more than about once a month. And in my appalling selfishness, I find that terrifying too.:|
Not that I didn't know it was coming, or that I somehow thought they were immortal - but still, I had assumed we had some years to go before their age and/or health issues become a problem that might affect me in any significant way. Well... time to think again.:(
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(no subject)
Date: 2009-12-08 08:57 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-12-09 03:43 am (UTC)So do we. I think dad is trying to find another doctor that will see him sooner. The thing is, the doctor he's supposed to see in January is Polish, so he will have no trouble communicating with him. If he manages to schedule something earlier, he might need help from either me or my sister as an interpreter. So I am saving my two remaining vacation days for this purpose (my mom doesn't speak English any better than my dad, so she can't help him here).
(no subject)
Date: 2009-12-08 06:06 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-12-09 03:47 am (UTC)Yeah. I don't even want to comtemplate all possible consequences - though perhaps I should. *sigh*
Thanks for responding. *hugs back*
(no subject)
Date: 2009-12-11 11:04 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-12-12 04:50 am (UTC)