If I Could Fly

Gladys McGee Interpersonal Paper

1

Interpersonal relationships are associations, connections or affiliations between two or more people.(
Levinger, G. (1983). Development and change. In H.H. Kelley, et al. (Eds.),
Close relationships. (pp. 315–359). New York: W.H. Freeman and Company.
)
For this paper the interpersonal relationship that will discussed is between my father and I. The relationship between my father and I was never a particularly good one. The relationship would constantly switch between the repair , the stage where you evaluate the relationship and seek to fix the problem
(Devito 1993) and dissolution, breaking up the relationship by one of the parties
(
Altman, I., and Taylor, D. 1973
Social Penetration: The
Development of Interpersonal
Relationships.
New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.
)
th
On the morning of July 13
, 2008, my father went into surgery at Paris Regional Medical

Center to get his tonsils and adenoids taken out. I had spoke to him the night before on the phone, reassuring him that everything was going to be fine, hearing the worry in his voice which
I was not used to hearing considering that our commutation was usually kept to a minimal . It was such a simple procedure and would be coming home only a day after. Little did I know it would change the rest of his life and mine as well. His surgery had gone fine and was released to
ICU as a precautionary. That day after school, my mom picked me up from school and took me to the hospital. I excitedly ran into the hospital, hopping onto the elevator and hit the round circle with number three printed on it till it lit up. As the door opened I stepped out, with a smile

Gladys McGee Interpersonal Paper

2 playing on the corner of my lips, seeing all my family members. At that moment I said a simple prayer thanking God for giving me such a strong and supportive family. I was the first in line to go through the doors to ICU as visiting time had finally approached. My visit was short but a very special one. Walking out, I heard my dad say, “I love you, have a good day at school tomorrow.” That next day after school was the beginning of my new life. I sat on the porch after school awaiting my mom to come and get me. After what seemed like hours, she finally arrived.
“Jerrica we need to go see your dad,” my mom finally said looking somewhat nervous. During my day at school, my dad had some complications. Earlier that morning, one of the nurses had popped a stitch, making him loose lots of blood. He had to take on the task of suctioning himself.
Since he had problems breathing he was required to wear a C­Pap machine, which looked like a oxygen mask with a clamp on the bottom. The beginning of this new responsibilty was simple for him but later in the day, while my aunt was visiting he needed to be suctioned and he needed assistance. She didn’t know how to undo his mask so she called for a nurse aid. When she stuck her head out the door and asked for help, the nurse aide said he was fine he could do it himself.
Within seconds my dad had a code blue. He was choking on his own blood. A successful code is four minutes….my dad’s was eight. They couldn’t get an open airway due to all the scar tissue from the surgery. After doing an emergency tracheotomy he was able to breathe again but was in a comatose state. This went on for three days, the three most miserable days of my life. On the

Gladys McGee Interpersonal Paper

3 fourth day, he finally awakened and lifted what felt like a fifty ton rock off of me. He couldn’t talk very well, he had to be given a feeding tube and he couldn’t control his muscles.
After a long discussion between my aunts and uncles, they came to the conclusion to put him in nursing home facility. Throughout this whole process, the next day was the first time I broke down and shed a tear. I walked into his room where he lay alone in the corner, with no air, sweating, staring hopelessly at the ceiling. That day I lost a special part of my heart. I no longer had my dad. No more long weekends in the pasture, breaking horses, going to the rodeo, going to eat at his favorite restaurant, nor enjoying his home cooked meals. No more late night games of
Monopoly or Yahtzee. He and I would not have to adjust ourselves to this new lifestyle. He stayed in paris for two months and was later transferred to lane frost in Hugo, Oklahoma. After coming to the conclusion that there was nothing they could help him with, he was transferred to
Honey Grove where he lives today. He can no longer walk, or move his arms. He still has a trachea so speaking has also become a hard thing to accomplish. He sits in a reclining chair all day unless he is laying down , where he watches reruns of old westerns. He has to drink his food completely pureed, in a cup with milk to help it go down. The relationship between my father and I has taught me a lot about relationships and interpersonal relationships and how to deal with complicated situations between myself and other people.