Saturday, April 08, 2006

Dad in hospital

[NB: This blog is on hold as far as other types of posting go. Check the bottom of this entry for brief, periodic updates.]

I've been hesitant to write about this, given the (for once) truly personal nature of the topic, but will do so as a courtesy to explain why future blogging might be erratic to nonexistent, at least for a while.

Last night, a bit before 1am, Seoul time, I received a call from my little brother David that our dad had experienced incapacitating chest pains. Tough guy that he is, Dad apparently wanted to drive himself to the hospital, but it was too much. He gave up in the middle of putting on his shoes and called for an ambulance.

I spoke to Mom on the phone last night; it was about lunchtime in the northern Virginia area, and she was at the hospital filling out insurance paperwork. Dad's staying in hospital and will be undergoing cardiac catheterization on Saturday. There is a less-than-1% chance that the procedure might go wrong and even be fatal, so I'll be focusing on the 99-plus-percent chance that everything will be fine. The catheterization will determine whatever heart abnormalities there might be.

Am reluctant to say more right now. It's Saturday morning in Seoul; I'm supposed to go out with students today for a picnic, and I don't plan on telling them about Dad. Instead, I'll be wearing my game face.

Thanks, Dear Reader, for understanding.





UPDATE, 4/8, 6:30pm: The day at Seoul Grand Park went well. It's a huge place, and there were a lot of people, especially kids. We saw ostriches, monkeys, apes, lions, deer- and antelope-like creatures, tigers, leopards, a hilarious bear, well-trained flocking flamingos, (literally) necking giraffes, and a camel with some nasty breath. We missed the dolphin show, but that was fine.

The weather was a bit cool for some of my underdessed girls, and the hwang-sa (yellow dust) was especially bad today. Aside from that, we had fun noshing on one student's kimbap and banana-on-toast sandwichettes, my homemade Euro-sandwiches, and various drinks. It was a very good day, all in all. Just what I needed, even though I didn't tell my students about Dad.

I'll be calling Mom again this evening; Dad'll be about to undergo his procedures. My sincere thanks, in the meantime, to people who've written in with expressions of concern and hope. Your words are appreciated.

UPDATE, 4/8, 10:30pm: I spoke with Mom, and it sounds like Dad might be coming home on Saturday afternoon (DC time) if his stress test turns out OK. Catheterization is, according to Mom, something of a last resort given how invasive the procedure is. We'll see what happens next.


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8 comments:

Anonymous said...

I don't know how much this will mean to you, but you and your father will be in my prayers.

kwandongbrian said...

All the best to you and your father. I'm not one for praying but I do hope all goes well.

Anonymous said...

Hang in there, my friend! I hope all will be well.

Horace Jeffery Hodges said...

Sorry to hear this, Kevin. I hope that your father makes a complete recovery.

Jeffery Hodges

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Lorianne said...

Kwan seum bosal for your Dad & the rest of your family.

Anonymous said...

Best wishes for your father's quick recovery. (Bow)

impletqueen said...

hey, Agent K -

your father, mother, and you are all in my thoughts and prayers. i know how scary cardiac stuff can be, and i know the feeling your dad had that he could handle it. he's a smart guy for getting this taken care of now.

it must be really hard to be so far away right now, so you're in my thoughts as well. take care of you.

j

Anonymous said...

Can only agree with the others mate, hope your dad recovers fully and in short order.

All good thoughts to you and yours.

peace.