Draining Day

Got a call from Rondic at 530 am. Any call at that time you KNOW isn't good news. Dad was going to be intubated in a few hours because he couldn't breathe very well anymore. Additionally, he was going to require at least 3 hours of dialysis to remove (?) some unclean fluids in his body and/or lungs. At the very least, the dialysis should filter these liquids and make them cleaner for him.

Mom called a few minutes later. In tears. Apparently, Gigi had called her a few minutes before and had broken down; she was really sad for both Mom and Dad. Mom told me the same thing about Dad that Dic did and she held the phone to Dad's ear.

Voice cracking, I said hello in the best gung-ho voice I could muster. Surprisingly, I could hear Dad AND understand his words clearly! He was speaking through an oxygen mask, too! Recovering a little bit, I asked him how he was feeling (okay), and that he should force himself to get better (a little laugh and an okay). An I love you brought an a responsive "love you". And that was enough for me.

After I put the phone down, I called Boydee to tell him to call Dad as well. I wasn't sure if Dad was going to be able to talk once he was intubated, so it was best to get our phone calls in when we could, right? Then I tried to call Rod, who was having second mini honeymoon of sorts in Thailand. Several tries later he wouldn't answer (hmp! turns out his phone was on silent for a spa the night before) so I texted him.

The rest of the day was sort of unreal. Everything seemed to be happening so fast, but not. Confusing I know, but that was the best way I could describe it. I went to the kids' school to talk to the principal and to ask for a little bit leeway for the kids to take their exams early because it looked like we were all going to fly to the States for the holidays to be with Dad. I broke down in front of her (hehehe) when I first launched into an explanation of why I was requesting for early exams for the kids.

Then it was time to try and get a flight out. Today. No direct flight to Vegas though today. Tomorrow was my best bet. Next it was trying to juggle schedules and fares to see what the WHOLE family was going to be doing WHEN. A nightmare! But with Bang and Elizza with me at the lunch table (of course it'll be over food!), we firmed up schedules and stuff. Sort of. Totally up-in-the-air skeds were Japa, Boydee and Rod.

Thank goodness for The Sisterhood. They kept me sane throughout the whole day. Kept me focused. No, we didn't avoid talking about Dad; in fact we talked about him and his illness. We put everything in perspective, I think, and it made things easier for me. So thank you, Lai and Bang, for being there/here. I know you guys always are, but more so yesterday :)

Then it was time to break it to the kids. What made it easier (i.e., without breaking down in front of them) was that I was able to do it one by one. When I got home, Raegan was already home, since she couldn't swim just yet. So I told her we were going to spend the holidays in the States and why. To her credit, I think she had an inkling of why; she's really my mature child :)

Next was Raine, who was ready to leap for joy (you could totally tell by her face) when I told her. I rushed into an explanation of why we were going and her face dropped. At least she understood. Rogan took it stoically. Typical of him. Ranger? No news for him, hehehe. He didn't need to be told just yet.

I stressed the importance of STUDYING to the kids. Studying especially early in the next few weeks because they were going to take their exams earlier than their classmates. Almost a week ahead, I think.

I also made a last-minute decision to come back for Raine's First Holy Communionon the 13th. We had already made her miss her preschool graduation, we missed her 7th birthday, I wasn't about to miss this next milestone in her life. So yeah, it'll be an interesting next few weeks, but we'll get through it I'm sure.

Ok, time to pack.