Everyone knows that Westwood is much closer to Pennsylvania than Nebraska is.
I don't know what particular ailment the father has, but assuming the worst case he's dying, my old man would have told me to skip town and never look back.
Something along the lines of, you aren't going to get anywhere in life crying over my grave kind of a deal.
Alternatively assuming its a longer term, survivable ailment, there's probably some consideration there to how much time you can spend around dad. Dad still may not want you to alter your life choices.