Today is my Daddy's 50th birthday.  Happy Birthday Daddy!

Yep, only 50.  And I say only because I'll be 29 in April.  Mom and Dad started young.  He had just turned 21, Mom had just turned 17, when they had me.  I was a planned child, hell, I was a needed child.  Mom's parents refused to sign for her to get married.  So, they got pregnant with me in order to marry.

Definitely backwards from the normal teen pregnancy story, isn't it? 

This has been a rough year for my parents, especially Daddy.  In January Daddy was hospitalized with a severe infection.  It started in his leg, spread across his pelvis, down the other leg, and wrapped around his back.  He had 4 or 5 surgeries to remove infected and necrotic tissue and we came very close to losing him.  He was in the hospital for several weeks on massive amounts of antibiotics and narcotics.

He came home in early February, where he was in a hospital bed, still on meds, and having a nurse come in multiple times a day to change his dressings. 

After about 3 days at home, we were all sitting in the living room, and he turned pale.  We put oxygen on him (he uses O2 at night with a c-pap machine) but he still couldn't breath well.  We called the rescue squad and they wre here within a few minutes.

His blood pressure was 40 over 26.  No, I didn't leave out any numbers. Back to the hospital, where at first they had no idea what was going on.  Until he was being transported to X-ray and he vomited up massive quantities of blood. 

Daddy received 11 units of blood within the first 20 hours following that.  Again, he was in the hospital for awhile.  It seems that due to not eating and the medications, he had developed a severe bleeding ulcer and while he was sitting at the house he was bleeding to death.

Twice in just over a month we almost lost him.  And Daddy has always been healthy.  The only problem he ever had was a ruptured Achilles tendon, that following the operation he had blood clots get into his lungs.  That night the doctor told Mom to call all of us to the hospital as they were sure he wouldn't make it.

He did, thank God, and until this year, he had no other health problems.  I told him he's saved up a lifetime of illnesses, so when he gets sick he has to go big.  Nothing minor for him.

A couple months ago, the infection came back, but they caught it quickly.  Only a week in the hospital this time.  Right now, he's going through some serious back and nerve pain.  Sciatica.  The poor guy just can't get a break this year.

Daddy can't wait to see the year change to 2004 and I wholeheartedly agree with him.  This has been a tough year on all of us.  Daddy is the rock to this family.  All of us girls, are Daddy's girls.  He's our hero.  I couldn't imagine not having him around.

Here's to another 50 years, Daddy.  I hope the next ones are better for you. 

I love you, Daddy.
Susan
Suzy Smith