So I'm a mod and I'm not sure if this is the official place to post this 
but anyway........
My dad and I don't have a super close relationship but we are on good terms and talk about once a month, he lives on the other side of the state so we don't see each other in person all that often. He is 59, has smoked since he was a teenager, and was diagnosed diabetic last year (well controlled now with diet and meds, no insulin).
He calls me tonight, says he thinks he had a stroke 2 days ago but feels fine. He thought he was having a low blood sugar episode while golfing so he went across the street to get a milkshake at McDonalds. By the time he got there, he couldn't speak to ask for the milkshake but was able to write down his request. Obviously the milkshake did not solve the problem but he seemed to be feeling fine, no obvious motor deficits.
I don't think he called his doctor till the next day (yesterday), who said (HELLO!!!!!!!!!!) GO TO THE ER.
The problem is, he has been laid off for a few months and does not have health insurance. He is a Vietnam vet and would be taken care of at a VA hospital, but the closest one is about 2 hours away (ummmmmmm ok so have your wife drive you there!). He wanted to get in at the local office but apparently there you need an appointment and no one has returned his call (duh go to the hospital! 
). Why his wife has not pushed him more to go to a hospital, I don't know.
So 2 days later (tonight) he decides to call me to tell me this, insists he feels fine, just is having a hard time saying what he wants to say. His speech is now slow, monotone, and deliberate and he has a harder time saying a word if it has more than 2 syllables. I'm sure he is scared to go to the ER, have a prescription written for a blood thinner, and then be handed a $20,000 bill. I'm trying to tell him he is lucky he is feeling ok now, but doing nothing differently, this is almost certainly going to come back again and he may end up much worse.
I convinced him to go to one of the VA hospitals that is about 3 hours away but only 15 minutes from his mother's (my grandmother) house so they have somewhere close to keep their dogs. Since he's going tonight I told him to drop the dogs off and go right there (his wife will be doing the driving), he thinks he'll just get up and go in the morning
So the point of this (rambling) story is I would be very grateful for any prayers, that he can get the necessary treatment with no further complications
I'm also praying this spurs my sisters to try to reconcile their differences with him, before it's too late...
but anyway........My dad and I don't have a super close relationship but we are on good terms and talk about once a month, he lives on the other side of the state so we don't see each other in person all that often. He is 59, has smoked since he was a teenager, and was diagnosed diabetic last year (well controlled now with diet and meds, no insulin).
He calls me tonight, says he thinks he had a stroke 2 days ago but feels fine. He thought he was having a low blood sugar episode while golfing so he went across the street to get a milkshake at McDonalds. By the time he got there, he couldn't speak to ask for the milkshake but was able to write down his request. Obviously the milkshake did not solve the problem but he seemed to be feeling fine, no obvious motor deficits.
I don't think he called his doctor till the next day (yesterday), who said (HELLO!!!!!!!!!!) GO TO THE ER.
The problem is, he has been laid off for a few months and does not have health insurance. He is a Vietnam vet and would be taken care of at a VA hospital, but the closest one is about 2 hours away (ummmmmmm ok so have your wife drive you there!). He wanted to get in at the local office but apparently there you need an appointment and no one has returned his call (duh go to the hospital! ). Why his wife has not pushed him more to go to a hospital, I don't know.So 2 days later (tonight) he decides to call me to tell me this, insists he feels fine, just is having a hard time saying what he wants to say. His speech is now slow, monotone, and deliberate and he has a harder time saying a word if it has more than 2 syllables. I'm sure he is scared to go to the ER, have a prescription written for a blood thinner, and then be handed a $20,000 bill. I'm trying to tell him he is lucky he is feeling ok now, but doing nothing differently, this is almost certainly going to come back again and he may end up much worse.
I convinced him to go to one of the VA hospitals that is about 3 hours away but only 15 minutes from his mother's (my grandmother) house so they have somewhere close to keep their dogs. Since he's going tonight I told him to drop the dogs off and go right there (his wife will be doing the driving), he thinks he'll just get up and go in the morning
So the point of this (rambling) story is I would be very grateful for any prayers, that he can get the necessary treatment with no further complications
I'm also praying this spurs my sisters to try to reconcile their differences with him, before it's too late...
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an October cancellation and now a Monday procedure...that power of prayer..
