This is my blog post for September! I know, where have I been? Well, I have been all over the place and there is so much to tell. 2 weeks of recovery from my surgery. I didn't have all of my facuties, due to copius amounts of pain medicine. It was very difficult to get my pain under control. In the end, we went with a Fentenal (sp?) patch. It really helped. My aunts Pippy and Gloria came for a visit a week after my surgery. We had a lovely few days and mom and I even went to the beach with the two of them. We had a nice, relaxing weekend and I didn't even leave the condo from Friday night until we left Sunday afternoon.
That Sunday, Gus was concerned about my dad. He said dad seemed confused and a little wobbly. Mom kept in contact with dad all day and he seemed fine, even insisted he was fine. We got home late inthe evening and dad was already in bed. Eric and I went over to mom's house to watch True Blood and we were there quite late. We had just gotten home when Gus called to tell me that mom had an ambulebce on the way for dad. They were sure dad was having a stroke. Gus picked me up and we headed to the hospital. Dad had suffered 2 strokes in the past and we were concerned, but we knew he was tough! Upon arrival at the hospial, we were told that this stroke was not something he could recover from. It took 2 1/2 hours, but dad passed away in the emergency room. It was the early morning hours of July 20. Pippy and Gloria were still in town and he passed with all of us with him. It was beyond tragic. The world changed in that moment. I know many people reading this understand the awful pain of losing a parent. We were not ready for this and we know that dad was not ready for this.
We had a visitation at the funeral home on Wednesday, July 22. It was overwhelming to see so many people who loved dad come out. We overstayed our welcome by more than 2 hours. It was quite humbling. The funeral the next day was beautiful and again we were humbled by the love!
In the wake of my father's death, we had so much to take care of. We rallied as a family and we got through. My thanks to everyone who held our hands. I hope this explains my absence, a little.
Health: still on the same course of treatment. I had a treatment 1 week after surgery and my bloodwork showed elevated tumor markers. We were unsure if the surgery had stirred up the cells and Dr. Steffens wanted to repeat markers and possibly change course. This was all we needed! More bad news... We took more blood and the markers were still elevated. Dr. Steffens, again wanted to give it more time. I agreed and we went ahead with that treatment.
In the next month, we flew to Kansas to have a memorial service for my father in Junction City. He was born there and his heart remained there until death, so it made sense to bring it full circle. Once again, we were blessed to feel the love from so many people eager to celebrate his life with us. It was a whirlwind trip and offered a bit of much needed closure, but brought with it the reality of his absence. The door to his office remains closed everyday and everyone at work is doing their best to continue on with the work to which he devoted his life. My mother will follow through with the buy-out agreement my father had with his partners in Pizza Hut and we will continue to work to make Sonic prosper. Gus has taken on the role of President of T&S, BRU and he is doing a wonderful job as leader of that company. We will strive to empower our managers with confidence and continue with the high expectations that marked the success my father had in his life.
I will continue this story in the next blog, possibly later tonight. It is dinner time and I am hungry!
Love and gratitude!
Tara
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