\u201cTo care for those who once cared for us is the highest\nhonor.\u201d \u2013 Tia Walker<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Our Memorial Weekend turned out very different from the weekend we\u2019d planned. We got a call over the weekend that my husband\u2019s father had been in the emergency room several times in excruciating back pain caused by a herniated disc in his back, a pinched sciatic nerve, and several other things that had him in pain to the point he couldn\u2019t bear it.\u00a0 He is 86 years old. They live in a small town in Idaho where they have to drive over an hour away to get medical care. They\u2019d repeatedly called their doctors office for help but were told it would be several weeks before they could be seen\u2026in the meantime he was in unbearable pain, couldn\u2019t sleep, dropped more than 15 pounds and began dehydrating. Finally over the weekend his blood pressure dropped so low an ambulance had to be called and he was rushed to the hospital.\u00a0 After spending the night on IV\u2019s the hospital sent him home still in extreme pain.\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n
When my husband and I got their call they were at their wits\nend. They didn\u2019t know where to turn. They didn\u2019t understand the medical terms\nbeing thrown at them, they weren\u2019t getting return calls from their physician,\nthey didn\u2019t understand the medications they were being given or how to dose\nthem properly, and my father-in-law, who is one of the toughest farmers you\nwill ever meet, was telling me he would rather be dead then continue on in the\npain he was in. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I don\u2019t know if I can adequately describe how much it hurts\nto hear your parents are hurting like that. It was also incredibly frustrating\nto know that the caregivers they\u2019d tried to seek help from didn\u2019t even take the\ntime to look in their faces and see how badly they needed their attention. We couldn\u2019t\nallow that to continue so we immediately booked a flight for them, a wheelchair\nwas arranged to transport my father-in-law, and we brought them here to Utah so\nwe can try and coordinate proper medical help for them here. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
When I got to the airport to pick them up and saw my always\nso strong father-in-law in the wheelchair looking like he\u2019d aged ten years in\nless than a month, it broke my heart. It\nwas all I could do not to fall apart crying. But when I saw my mother-in-law\nfighting back her own tears I knew I needed to stay strong for her. I hugged\nthem both, grabbed their luggage, and we brought them home with us. Driving\nhome we passed the cemetery full of people visiting graves and adorning them\nwith flowers and my heart silently gave thanks our parents were still with us…<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As we tucked his parents into bed for the night I couldn\u2019t help\nbut flashback to tucking my own children bed when they were little and I was\nstruck by the circle of live we go through\u2026here my husband and I are still feeling\nlike two little kids who just want our strong parents who can take care of us,\nyet realizing that it\u2019s our turn to be the strong ones who need to take care of\nthem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tomorrow morning we begin the hunt to find a physician who can help treat my father-in-law. I pray we will find a caregiver who will show them the love and attention they deserve…<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What an honor it is to care for our parents. Show them how much you love them while they are still here to see it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n