Today has been a bit of a nightmare. Doctors said my Dad had double pneumonia and kept him in an isolation room where he was on intravenous antibiotics. But that didn't explain the level of pain, which was so bad that Dad couldn't even speak. Finally a doctor said that the amount of pain was much more than would be normal for the kind of operation he had had, and that they would need to take him for a scan. The scan showed that he had fluid leaking inside his body from the place where they had re-joined the two parts of the colon after removing the cancerous part. He had been warned that this was one of the risks of this operation - that it can happen in a small number of cases - but we had so much hoped that he wouldn't be one of those cases.
So he was rushed back to surgery, where they opened him up again and discovered the leak that had been the source of so much pain. But, apart from the fact that he also has pneumonia, he is so sick that it wasn't possible for the surgeon to sew the colon up again. It would just tear open yet again as he continues to throw up over the weekend (which they say will be the case.) So they've had to put catheters in instead. After the surgery, he was moved to the Intensive Care Unit, where they say that they'll have to work on getting him over the pain and well enough to go home for a while. Then he'll need to go back into hospital at a later date to re-do the surgery and sew the two parts of the colon together again.
It's been hard for my Mum to see him so weak and in so much pain - especially as he had been feeling so well last weekend before going into the hospital. I tried to book a flight home today to be with family at this time, but it was absolutely impossible to find any availability of flights to Scottish airports. I checked eight different airlines, and even looked for flights via places like Newcastle and Birmingham (in England) but everything was fully booked for tonight and also for the next few days. I even packed a bag and went to the airport, trying with three airlines there to get something at short notice, but they simply reaffirmed that there were no flights at all to any of the Scottish airports. With some airlines, there were no free seats at all until next Wednesday (perhaps because this is a holiday weekend in most of Europe.)
Finally I managed to find a flight for tomorrow night, Saturday, arriving in Prestwick at midnight. Prestwick is further from home than Edinburgh or Glasgow, but not too far for my brother to come and pick me up. All being well, I'll be able to see my Dad on Sunday. For now, though, his condition is still rather critical - as he recovers from a second major operation this week, battles with the nausea and vomiting, and also has his strength weakened by having pneumonia at the same time. My family would very much value your prayers this weekend. Thank you.
