My Father's Health

My father William Homan has advanced Parkinson's and several types of cancer, but he has been fairly sharp mentally through the process. I'm thankful for that. I had a good talk with him last Friday. Then Saturday I heard from his friend and caretaker Liz that his mental health had deteriorated sharply Saturday morning, and she was taking him to the hospital. He was disorientated and didn't know where he was or who he was. At the hospital the nurses said he had a lung infection and he continues to come and go out of consciousness. He also does things like pull the tubes out of his arms. My brother Jim went to visit him yesterday. I called and Jim said my dad was sort of alert, and he gave my dad the phone. So there I am standing at Armstrong park with my dogs in costume for Barkus crying and telling my dad I loved him and I appreciated all that he did for me as my father. I spoke with a social worker today, and we're going to try to set up some sort of hospice arrangement at his apartment. I fly out tomorrow and I'm scheduled to arrive in Omaha around noon. But there is a giant snowstorm heading that way, and my dad is in Columbus, about 2 hours of small highway driving out of Omaha. My worst fear is that I'll wind up stuck in Houston's airport and they'll cancel all flights to Omaha. I'm at school now trying to finish up some lose ends relating to teaching. My colleagues here at Xavier have been very supportive of all of this, and that means a lot to me.