At that age

I have arrived at the age along with other friends where our parents are aging and some better than others. I know of at least 4 people whose parents are not doing well, all of them are in and out of the hospital and another friend who just lost her dad.

My dad has suffered from depression for years and goes up and down, and by down, I mean down, in bed, not eating. He had a doctors appointment today and when the nurse took his vitals, she immediately took him to emergency where they put him in a bed and started hydrating him as he was severely dehydrated and his blood pressure was down to 45. He doesn't believe that his depression puts him in bed and unable (unwilling?) to eat. He thinks he has stomach problems, of which they NEVER find anything wrong.

In the last couple of weeks he had a CAT Scan, MRI and Endoscopic Ultrasound. They saw something on his pancreas and was told he had pancreatic cancer before they even did any biopsies. WTF? Guess what, all six biopsies came back cancer free. Yahoo. But who in their right mind would tell someone they were 99% sure he had pancreatic cancer BEFORE doing a biopsy? I'm no medical expert, but that just doesn't seem right. Anyway, no cancer. His depression needs new medication which he should be getting soon and I hope they find something that works. It's hard living so far away and not knowing what is going on so I can intervene and say, Hey, something is not working here people! I'll be going home to MI for a visit when my dad turns 73 and mom turns 70. So, I'll be checking up on him!