I am sorry you are going through this. I hope that you remember to take care of yourself.
You are a wonderful person for being able to love so deeply. It is good to know that there are Angels like you still out there...
I didn't want to post in the main geezer group but I'm crying as I write this. I feel so sad for you and your dad, he seems like a great example of what a father should be, and he is lucky to have you to support him during this rough time.
I believe in God, I believe prayers work, so I pray that you both have many,many,many more happy years to comfort and hold each other
I left my life in NJ way back in 1993 to move to Florida when my Dad's health began to decline more severely. He'd had a quadruple heart bypass in 1988, was a smoker from the age of 16, had worked with fiberglass for a few years, then asbestos for 16, and his heart on a good day only worked at 10-15 percent of a healthy heart and his lungs were already getting insufficient oxygen, so the low oxygen level was not even pumped effciently. I came down here and then he was diagnosed with leukemia and given 6-12 months. He said "No, I've got stuff left to do" and priceeded to live until 2001, participating in an experimental drug test he knew was too late for him but wanted to help future victims of leukemia. I've since met someone whose life was saved by that same drug my father tried.
I'm watching Mom's memory decline (it was always faulty to some degree - even when I was a kid if you told her something and she relayed it to someone else it wasn't even close to accurate, and would often come across with the complete opposite meaning as the original speaker intended, and often caused needless family disputes). Now imagine that copounded exponentially.She's functional enough she has her doctor fooled (my oldest sister and I tend to email him privately to let him know what's REALLY going on with her because she lies to him). She's with me now, but my sister is trying to get her up to PA where there is a bigger home with people around all the time and her dozens of great-grandchildren would be closer and I could start to have a life of my own after 14 years. She had a triple bypass in the 80s and had a pacemaker put in some time ago which had to be replaced with an implanted defibrillator this February. She just turned 81.
So, I can relate to some degree. I'm not on your friends list, but I will still pray for your dad. And you.
Sorry I have no advice or anything helpful to say. Just try to appear strong around him and have your 'moments' when you're not right there with him. He's not strong enough to handle your pain. And you CAN get through this just fine. I'm sensing you're in recovery and I've had some experience with alcoholics and other addicts (I just last night worked as opening act [playing solo electric guitar and singing] for a band comprised of AA & NA members - called YouTurn, appropriately enough) and if you made it through that you have all the tools and experience you need. You just have to figure out how to apply them here. For your dad and for you.
After I re-read my comment I felt like it was kind of cold and rude. I apologize if it came off that way. It was not my intent. I only hope for the best for yours.
I feel for you. It's very difficult seeing our parents whither away, as part of the life cycle. I lost my Dad last year just before he would have turn 86. He lived a rich life, but lived without my mom for over 16 years. I don't know how ones lives without their love so love. She died in 1990 at age 69. It's never easy.
You Dad is lucky that he has you there with him. You are his angel.
I'm saddened to read about your father. My parents are still active but are both slowly declining and it makes me sad to think of them as they were not that long ago, and teary to remember back to when they were young. My father took up golf when he retired but had to stop within 18 months because of back problems. My mother is the one with diminished lung function.
My parents were put through a lot when we were growing up, and it's really never stopped since: a crisis a year is about the norm - my youngest brother is ill - but they still deal with it and even now are always there for us. But the time when they won't be is a depressing reality. So I have some empathy with your situation and feelings, I think.
Your father is obviously a wonderful Dad and he clearly has a wonderful daughter. My thoughts go out to you and your Dad. Stay strong.
i know i don't know you. but i just came across your page. but i feel your pain. i lost my dad 4 years ago, through a slow decline. it was actually a relief at the end for me. and i was fucked up over the guilt of feeling relieved. but i got better. enjoy every moment. and tell him you love him every day. sending some love your way. ki1.
Sorry about your father. I cannot imagine how painful it must be.
As for bacteria causing ulcers - yeah, most of the time. But I have to go and get scoped before anyone would just blindly prescribe me antibiotics, and I just don't have the time. Besides, yuck? A tube down your throat? (I guess it's better than up the other end!)
I can't figure out how we haven't done the "friends request" thing yet!! I've been meaning to stop by for awhile now... actually thought that I had!
Your blog touched me. I was a caregiver for my mother with Parkinson's, and other assorted physical and mental health issues, for almost two years. It's an incredibly difficult experience trading places with your parents when they become dependent upon you! All I can say is... remember to take some time for you, cause otherwise it can become hard to give from a place of love.
ALthough I haven't watched it in a while. I may have to; just to vent 
You are a wonderful person for being able to love so deeply. It is good to know that there are Angels like you still out there...