Erika E

The other day Seth shared a story with us & honestly, I have no idea what he said after the word “ambulance.” I tried to pay attention, believe me, I wanted to. Instead, my ears shut off & my brain transported me to just before midnight on Tuesday October 9th, 2018. The night my dad was so sick that he fought the paramedics trying to save him.

I vaguely remember being jolted awake by obnoxious trumpet sounds just before midnight & thinking, “Why on earth did I make THAT mama’s custom notification sound?” I picked up my phone while mumbling to myself that I was definitely going to change that later. It took me a minute for the brain fog to lift so I could digest what I read on the screen. Her fragmented text made no sense at all, so I immediately jumped out of bed & ran downstairs.

Keep in my mind that my folks lived in a large room over the garage so getting there meant I had to run downstairs, through the kitchen, & up to their bedroom. I could hear my dad arguing with my mama as I climbed the narrow stairs & gently knocked on the door. My mama pulled open the door with tears streaming down her cheeks.

Dad had finished his latest chemo treatment at the end of the previous week, but now he was running a fever & she was worried. He was yelling that he was fine & we should just leave him alone. He was shivering & wrapped in probably five or six blankets. I told mama to call 911 because it was almost midnight & he needed immediate medical attention.

He tried to get out of bed to show us that he was ok, but he couldn’t. That’s when his tears started & somehow his cries of pain became that much louder. I did my best to calm him down so she could hear the 911 operator on the phone, but he was hysterical, he was angry, & he was so loud.

It seemed to take forever for the paramedics to arrive, but in reality, it was less than 15 minutes. Time always slows down to a crawl when your adrenaline is running.

There were three of them & because the stairs were so narrow to my parents’ bedroom, they brought in one of those fabric stretchers. My dad was delirious & continued to yell at the paramedics as they strapped him to the stretcher.

I watched in awe as they carefully lifted him up before guiding each other & my dad down that narrow path. When they passed through the last doorway, my dad caught hold of the door frame & wouldn’t let go.

To this day I don’t know where that sudden burst of strength came from, but he wouldn’t stop fighting. He did NOT want to leave the house.

Once they were on the way to the hospital, I helped mama pack a small bag & drove her there. Just before we walked out, I sent an email to my boss telling him my dad was being rushed to the hospital & I didn’t know when I’d be back at work (it was roughly 3am at this point).

I walked into the hospital with mama & let her guide me. By this point my dad had been battling colon cancer for almost 3.5 years. She knew her way around the halls of this institution like it was her second home. She weakly smiled & greeted the overnight staff we passed in the halls.

Every single person knew mama by name, that tells you how often they were there over the years. Of course, the fact that my mama talked to everyone, & I mean everyone, didn’t hurt either. I got her settled in the waiting room because dad was still undergoing tests to find out what was wrong.

She assured me that she would be fine & insisted I head home to get some sleep.

I walked to my car, got in, & proceeded to sob. My mind was racing, questioning if I would see my dad again, so I turned up the music to drown out my thoughts, wiped the tears from my cheeks, & drove home in the dark.

Who is Erika E?

Erika is a 6-year Army vet turned IT geek who drinks copious amounts of coffee & isn’t afraid of struggle. When she’s not working, she loves writing, reading, & NOT arithmetic (but can calculate as needed). Oh, & as you’ll see from her posts, she doesn’t shy away from tough topics.

Got a story you want to share? Email her at erika@mentalgrenade.com

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