In the hospital again.

So my father's in the hospital again. Last Wednesday morning, he went into the city in the morning with my mom to go to the eye doctor. They ate breakfast and split at 9am -- my mom to work, my father on the bus to the doctor's office on 79th and Lexington. He collapsed, unconscious, on the street at 80th and Lexington before ever arriving at the doctor's office; his heart stopped, he'd had an arrhythmia. Apparently there was a cop nearby and either saw him on the street or was directed to him -- she used a defibrillator to shock his heart into beating again. She called for an ambulance and they took him to Lennox Hill Hospital, 3 blocks away on 77th between Lexington and Park.

At 10am I got a call on my cell phone that woke me out of a doze really quickly when the caller introduced herself as Officer Someone-from-the-19th-Precinct and told me that my father had collapsed on the street at 80th and Lex, that he'd been brought to the hospital, and that he was alive. After sort of incoherently getting the number and location of the hospital, I called my mom immediately at work. No answer. I left a message on her voice mail and went to take a 5-second shower. I got dressed and left, but I wasn't going to get there for another hour and a half -- public transportation can only go so quickly, after all. Before I got into the subway, I called my mom again. Again, no answer. I left another message. I figured she either knew what was going on and went to the hospital in a tizzy, forgetting to call me, or that she was in a meeting.

Turned out she was in a meeting.

I got to the hospital at 11:45. The emergency room doctor took me aside and explained that he'd had a heart attack, the cause of which they weren't quite clear on as of yet, but that he was medically stable; the police officer had been so quick to find and resuscitate him that he'd only gone a few seconds without a heartbeat, and had absolutely no brain damage (oxygen to the brain had never been cut off). Boy, if my father was going to have an arrhythmia (from which most people die), he sure picked the right time and place to do it. Did I mention that Lennox Hill Hospital is among the top 50 in the country for cardiology?

Lucky him. In fact, I'm just so glad he collapsed there in the street because if he'd been at home and his heart stopped like that, he'd be dead now. I was sleeping all the way downstairs. I wouldn't even have come upstairs for another hour or two.

So. We come to the present, skipping over lots of adventures in him fighting the breathing tube stuck down his throat into his lungs to make sure he keeps breathing, causing them to restrain and finally sedate him for two days so he won't be able to pull the tube out, among other fun things. He's now awake and alert and thoroughly capable of trying to bribe the nurses to let him go home now rather than a week from Friday. He's scheduled to have heart bypass surgery this Friday (to clear the blockages they found while doing an angiogram) and then have a permanent pacemaker (he's hooked up to a temporary one for now) inserted on Monday. Then the rest of the week for recovery.

...and now for your daily dose of Normalcy... ::gag::

Tuesday night (last Tuesday, not yesterday) was fun. I met with Angelica, Louie and Maryann to go to a cute goth store in the East Village. They had a little too much fun trying things on, and I got really attached to a pink pettycoat skirt with black lace detailing at the bottom that was just gorgeous (I wish I'd brought my camera). If the guy'd been willing to come down a little from the $71 sale price, I would've bought it. But there's no way I was going to be able to afford the $71. The school loan people have been knocking at my door lately. It's painful. Ite.

But I'm getting a bit ahead of myself, which isn't at all unusual for me. For the past few months (specifically, when I found out that there are cheap buses that go from NYC to certain other cities in the northeast for relatively cheap fares), I've been wondering if I could take a daytrip somewhere... which led to "Hmmm, where is there a hockey game I could go to?" which led to "Oh! What about a concert instead?!" Then Metallica announced additional tour dates -- and in NYC no less! Which Liz and I couldn't possibly pass up. After going to the Summer Sanitarium concert in July, we were totally ruined. That's right, we're now Met tourwhores. (Which is another reason I'm quite broke recently -- those general admission tickets cost a little less than the SS ones: $90 each instead of $100.) And this time, like last time, I had to pay for Liz's ticket in addition to my own. And I don't have Angelica's $50 "birthday gift" this time to help me out a bit.

So I was caught up in the thrill of having an awesome concert to go to. I even spent the $180 for tickets. But since the concert isn't until April 20th, I've got a $180 bill and nothing to show for it (yet). I don't know how I came across the info, but I discovered that Three Days Grace would be playing at the Bowery Ballroom on March 11th. I'd just take Liz, but since it's at a club where they have an age limit (16+), she can't go (she turns 16 in July). Which only meant that I had to try and convince Angelica, at least, to go with me. I did eventually get her to agree to go with me. I don't remember how I convinced her (or blackmailed her, as the case may be), but my powers of persuasion are legendary (and the fact that the tickets are only $13 apiece might have helped).

But this brings me back to last Tuesday. I brought up the concert and Maryann had actually heard of the band and their current hit, I Hate Everything About You. (I forgot to mention a few things: (1) that I completely and utterly fell in love with the song the first time I heard it and (2) that neither Angelica nor Louie recognized the band or the song.) So I asked Maryann if she'd like to go too. She said yes, so I called Liz (who was at home) to look up directions to the Bowery Ballroom. Turns out the box office for the Bowery Ballroom was three blocks away from the store we were in! So I decided to go get the tickets right then and there 'cause -- who knows -- the show just might sell out. Maryann and Louie went home. Angelica came with me to get the tickets.

My father collapsed the next morning.

The day after my father collapsed, my mother told me that her office was going to have a work retreat (to NJ) for 3 days... March 10-12. And did I mention that Maryann's cat has a malignant tumor and the surgery to remove the tumor was scheduled for March 11th? Why?!

Go figure. Could Murphy be any more cruel?

Maryann told me later that she might be able to go after all, although I'm not 100% sure of that. I don't think Angelica could care less one way or the other, though... except that if someone buys the tickets from us she'll have her $13 back. Later my mom said that if my father was still in the hospital, she'd go to the retreat 'cause he'd be safe at the hospital, but that if he was home from the hospital, then she'd stay home as well. This actually worked out perfectly 'cause if he's at the hospital and she's on the retreat then there's no problem with me going to the concert. And if he's home and so is she, then there still should be no problem for me to go to the concert.

Then the good ambiguous news came that works somewhat to my advantage: with his heart bypass surgery scheduled for Friday, the pacemaker implant scheduled for Monday, and about a week of recovery time, they've estimated that he shouldn't be coming home earlier than Friday (March 12th).

Of course I would rather have him home and comfortable sooner than that, but it does work out pretty conveniently. Do I have to feel guilty when it worked out this way all by itself without any sort of manipulation by me?

If I actually get to go to the concert (openers start at 8pm; Three Days Grace starts at 10pm) I'm going to drink and get plastered even though I have to be at work at 8am the next morning. ^^

2004 anime con schedule...

I feel like I've been on a deserted island or something -- out of touch since I've not been reading or posting in LJ for months. You have to update me on what con appearances you're making this year so I know when I will be able to see you again! Especially you, Sharon -- I miss you! ^^

If Leetch is gone, it's all fucking over.

I'm REALLY upset that Sather traded Leetch to Toronto. I am upset beyond words. All I can do not to cry or scream about it is to not think about it. So I'm going to do my utmost to not think about it until Leetch comes back to the Rangers. If that ever happens.

I HATE that fucking bastard.