Hehehe... are you blown away, or what?? LOL
It's been a while since I have written anything. A little because I
have been busy and a little because I haven't felt I have anything to
say. But I have been dwelling a little bit on the hospital stay my Mom
recently had and a couple of 'things' about it.
I had been away for a little R&R for three days and while I was
gone she had begun to fall ill. My first full day home she was very
sick and couldn't keep anything down all day. We finally took her to the
ER to be checked out.
Just to set the scene a little more completely, we are talking
about an 85 year old woman who barely eats on a good day. She was
throwing up about every 30-90 minutes and getting very dehydrated and
definitely felt as bad as she looked. My mind set was along the lines
of this possibly being her time. I was very stressed and teary and
fortunately had "My Harriett" who had agreed to accompany us to the
ER... and hold my hand so to speak.
We spent four hours in ER before Mom was finally admitted to the
hospital. They poked her until her arms were purple (common with
dehydration), took x-rays, blood, and anything they could extract and
put in lots of fluids. All the while she was on a small bed in a cubby
hole of the ER and just wanting to go back home.
Then it came - my
'sign' that Mom was going to make it through. She looked up at the IV
through half mast eyes between moans and asked, "Do I have to wait for
all that to drip into me before I can leave?" I assured her that the
fluid would all have to flow into her at which she said, "Squeeze it!"
"Squeeze it?" I asked.
"Yes. Squeeze it so I can go home."
I knew Mom would live. My other sign was when she was wheeled back from radiology and told me to "sit up." Only my mom!
During the months of packing and planning our move to Utah, 18
months ago, I had my doubts that she would live long enough to make the
move with us. Now I think she's going to outlive us all.
Just in case you are curious, she had a severe bladder infection
which traveled into her one only partially functioning kidney, and
caused all the problems. She spent three days in the hospital and then
returned home to us. Her first full day in the hospital was absolutely
incredible. I went to visit her that afternoon after work and she was so
lucid. She remembered exactly what they did to her that day and told me
everything. She even wanted her pharmaceutical book so she could look
up the antibiotic they gave her. The next day she kept asking me why I
put her in the hospital and now she doesn't even remember being there.
How I miss that first day!
