The Last Time Together

November 28, 2008…

An unexpected situation had happened. After two years of survival from stroke, my father got sick again. He was having fever, weakness and was complaining of muscular pain on his body and thighs. I was worried sick about him but I was optimistic.

He could hardly stand up on his own that afternoon. I wanted to help him up but I could not because of my physical restraints. He held on my right arm while he was sitting on a chair inside the room. I felt so attached to him while he was gently holding on to my arm. We were not conversing but I know we both appreciated that time that we were together. Later on, he successfully got himself up after several attempts.

However, later that afternoon, his pain worsened. He was reading his Bible but I could feel the discomfort that he was feeling. He was losing strength to keep his balance while he was sitting on the side of the bed. I did not know if he could still read on very well at that point but he was trying with all his strength to read a page. I tried to hold him up from my wheel chair. I tried to keep him stable in his sitting position by holding his left shoulder up but it gave not much help. If only I could transfer from my wheel chair to the bed, sit beside him and offer my body as a backrest… If only I could…

Later that night, we rushed him to the hospital. Before they left, he told me that he wanted to urinate. Those words echo in my mind up to now… I looked at him as he rode the cab. I was not nervous as I expected him to return home well. I fixed his beddings right away that night so that it would be clean with a fresh smell when he comes back…

Photo Courtesy:
http://www.bolderclaims.co.uk/Images/hospital%20bed.jpg