I wasn’t prepared for the rollercoaster I was to ride when my dad became suddenly and critically ill just two months ago. I didn’t meet the ride’s height requirements and I hated the upside-down loops.

After being rushed to his closest private hospital in Melbourne, my 57-year-old dad spent three terrifying weeks in the intensive care unit, where he eventually died.

Ruby Kraner-Tucci with her dad, Joe.

He underwent three emergency surgeries in six days. He was intubated, extubated and re-intubated. He needed CPR. He was poked and prodded with needles. He had support for almost every system in his body.

When my dad died from multiple organ failure, a side effect of an initial cause his doctors never uncovered, it felt as if the rollercoaster had stopped, and I was dangling helplessly upside down.

My dad’s time in the ICU was my first intimate encounter with our healthcare system – which is a privilege to say. But in those few short weeks, I learned lessons that will hold me through my next inevitable exchange.

I learned that when the news is good, you’ll be told at the bedside. The ICU doctors didn’t hesitate in disclosing positive changes, like when dad stopped needing blood pressure medication or could breathe independently.

When the news is bad, a “family........

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