Family Things

One of the things that's going to be added to the things I talk about is my family. Despite not wanting to really go back home I will be glad to see them. One day I'll have to make a diagram to explain it all because there are lots of step- and half- and exs that still all stay in touch or are somehow involved. Bringing this up is prompted by a dream of my gradfather (who I've seen ones in the last 16 years) and an email from my sister that mentioned my Dad.

My Dad has a chronic lung disease called Pulmonary Fibrosis. It's like cystic fibrosis but only affects the lungs. I don't know tons about it but basically scar tissue develops on parts of the lungs and makes it hard to breathe and impedes oxygen from getting to your blood. It can progress really slowly or really quickly, or in between. He was diagnosed about three years ago but after some testing it seemed to not be progressing at all and was staying that way - until about a months or two ago. There's doing a whole bunch of tests right now and getting him on extra medications and things like that. It's a bit scary.

My dad used to smoke but quit about 8 years ago. He also used to play raquetball at least twice a week and scuba dived regularly. He's had to slow both those activities becasue of the breathing problems (as well as hand surgery for carpel tunnel problems from using a computer everyday). His dad dies of lung cancer when I was 5 and he was 65. My dad is in his late 50's now and that's not comforting at all.

Oo top of it all, my dad's being really secretive about the whole thing and not wanting to stresws me or my sister out. He tells us but with not many details and always says it ok so I wonder if it was getting really serious if he'd tell us. For exmaple he told my mom before she came to visit me that things were getting worse but told her not to tell me and that he would after the vacation so that I could enjoy myself. His dad didn't tell anyone about the lung cancer or even get any treatment until he was too sick for anything to be done about it and everyone had to watch him die.

My sisters been calling him every few days and seeing him everyweek. She said she things he's finding her irritating but I mean he didn't tell her about his hand surgery because it "wasn't a big deal" and then I asked her how he was doing and she felt a bit jilted with good reason. I know my mom's keeping an eye on him too.

That's family thing number one I guess. I promise I'll give people names and draw a chart another day. It doesn't sound too confusing yet but it is. There's nothing in other news. I'm going to try to study today, go buy soymilk and a card and do some laundry. I'm trying to faind somewhere to download American Idol because they are down to three people and the site I use has suddenly disappeared.