thewayne | There's nothing like spending Christmas Eve in the emergency room!

My dad has had a terrible cough for a few weeks now. His GP said it was a cold, and thus a virus, and he couldn't do anything about it. He went to an ENT who did zilch.

Tonight we drove out to my sister's for dinner, and after dinner, he has a 20 minute coughing jag.

We decide to cut the evening short, and on the way back we convince him to go to the ER.

White blood cells: half of what they should be. Neutrophils: pretty much zero. His vitals are good, including SpO2.

And he has pneumonia!

His cough sounds like whooping cough, AKA pertussis. They've tested him for that, but it has to be sent out. Blood cultures will also take time to grow. But he's getting IV antibiotics and he's going to be in the hospital at least overnight, which sucks in one big way:

December the 25th is his birthday.

But we got one good laugh out of it: we asked the PA: "Will he live to see his 86th birthday?" She asked when that was, we told her "About five hours." She laughed and said yes, I think he'll see his 86th birthday.

I'm about to head back up there to take him his Samsung tablet and chargers for it and his phone, a book, etc.

So we'll be going to a hospital for Christmas Day!