My Dad Is Sad

My parents, brother, and sister-in-law came to visit this weekend. It was not an uplifting visit.

My father was injured at work two years ago and he's never fully recovered. Not knowing the intimate details, I can only say that from a distance, it appeared as though he never got the appropriate medical care he needed right from the start. It was a messy situation - he worked for my uncle who tried to claim that he had a stroke and therefore workman's comp shouldn't cover the injury and treatment. My father was out of work for nearly a year and did not get good follow-up care.

Now he's back at work, but since he never fully recovered, it's very difficult for him. Now he's losing his balance and sometimes has double vision. Not good for a man who drives heavy equipment for a living.

So they are still fighting with workman's comp over bills and treatment and now there is talk of making him permanently disabled which sounds like it would be fine, except that he is scared to death that they will take away his driver's license. If he can't drive the big trucks, does that mean he can't drive his own vehicle?

We see the difference - in driving the big rig he needs to climb in and out of the truck repeatedly, and it's much more difficult to drive such a large vehicle. But does that mean he can't drive his own car? My father is not much of a talker to begin with, but he was practically mute this weekend. Just sitting and stewing and worrying and wondering and there's not a damn thing I can do.