The Spirit of the Energizer Bunny

My stepdad, Jack, is the REAL Energizer Bunny...in a diaper. As I wrote in my book, The Heart Way-A Journey from Corporate to Care, Jack suffers from more than a dozen chronic health disorders and diseases, from diabetes to prostate cancer to Parkinson's. His dad passed away at the age of 49, so Jack has been expecting his own impending death since he was 45. He's been at death's door more times than I can remember, but he always bounces back. In 2005 he was hospitalized for two weeks and spent ten more weeks in a skilled nursing facility due to a bad reaction to medications that caused him to go crazy. After 10 weeks, he suddenly snapped out of it and became coherent. He worked with physical therapists and was released to go home to Mom and his assisted living community on Father's Day. He's had a few issues since then, but none as serious as the one that put him in the hospital last Friday.

I jokingly wrote "The Christmas Catheter" post in his honor, and he laughed when I read it to him. Sadly, he developed an infection from the thing and was hospitalized. His urologist insisted on comparing the color of his urine to wine. Needless to say, it was impossible for me to enjoy a glass of merlot on Friday night. I chose a dirty martini instead.

We thought we were on the right track by Sunday when the catheter bag looked like it was full of white zinfandel. The nurse pulled out the catheter yesterday morning. The doctor informed me that if Jack couldn't urinate by himself during the day, he would require surgery. By 5 o'clock, there was still no "pee-pee" as Saint Norma the Caregiver and I have taken to calling it, so surgery was set for today at 3:15 PM.

The great spirit of the Energizer Bunny must have taken hold during the night because apparently Jack went through about six super-diapers making "pee-pee" in his sleep. Everyone at the nurses' station said it was a miracle. There will be no surgery today and Jack will be going home tonight sans catheter. My sappy Christmas story is finding its very own happy ending.