Dad is back in the hospital. He developed a high fever and abdominal pain over the weekend and rebuffed all requests from my Sister and I to seek medical attention. Sister took him to the ER on Tuesday morning and by Tuesday evening he was in the ICU, recovering from abdominal surgery. He is stabilizing and seems to be gettng better.
For those of you who may not know my Dad, let me fill you in a few things. He's a very smart (Yale-educated) man who has had an incredible run of good health over the course of his life. That run seems to have come to an end as of this past April, but either he doesn't realize or refuses to acknowledge this change.
So my quandary is this: how do you convince someone that their health has now changed and they need to be far more careful and proactive?
We're at our wits' end and can use any and all advice you have to offer.
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5 comments:
Ugh. I'm really sorry to hear that. Unfortunately, I'm pretty low on useful answers. My dad made a lot of progress in taking care of himself immediately after his bypass surgery, followed by a long, slow backslide to the land of smoke and cholesterol.
I do think there are some specific behaviors you can encourage... if exercise is an issue, workout buddies and a willingness to try something different work wonders. But I'm still working on general attitude adjustment.
Of course, you could always repair your credit, take a vacation to Long Island, take him to a vet in California, or buy some penny stocks if you prefer... ;-)
(hugs)
Had success with the "you tended my ear infections and now I take care of you"(don't mention diapers!) approach, but it took many repetitions and reaasertions.
I hate penny stocks.
My credit is in good shape, thankyouverymuch.
And the LAST place I would go on vacation is Long Island.
And I really really really REALLY dislike comment spam.
But I do love your suggestions. Keep 'em coming!
Blackmail? bondage? the comfy chair?
I think (IMHO) you'll have to wear him down with repeated strong arguments.
Tommyspoon:
When you figure out how to convince your father to change his lifestyle health-wise, let me know. I have been trying for years...persistence doesn't work, Lemming, at least not in our stubborn family.
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