Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Moming My Mom

There are times in life that seem slower, or more uneventful... The past week has not been one of those times.

I have not posted because of the busy week and all of the unexpected things that got squeezed into a week of pre-scheduled events, such as my son's 6 month shots. Yuck. (See previous post "I HATE SHOTS")

But the main reason I have not been on here this week is that my Mother went to the ER last Wednesday night in pain and also vomiting. My sister and I did not really get much sleep as we were waiting to get text messages from our Father ever few hours. By 2:45am they had gotten a room and were waiting to be seen. Finally, another text came in around 3 something a.m. that they were seen and they had ordered an ultra sound. Several hours later I got a call from my Dad saying that they would be doing emergency surgery to remove my Mom's gallbladder. Yeah.

It's now Thursday morning... I nursed the baby, left a pumped bottle with my husband, and headed over to the hospital. I really wanted to see her before she went back. It took forever to find a place to park and then I had to walk a semi far distance to get to the building and then find the right elevator, the right hall, and right waiting area. I asked the lady at that desk and she took me to another hallway -- she told me that this area was called the kissing corner because it's where people say their I love you's before being wheeled off into the O.R. -- I made it. She was being pushed down the hall JUST as I got there. We said I love you and I prayed for peace over her. She kept telling me that she loved me and wanted me to tell my sister that she loved her too because she was in school (even though she had not slept either) and was not at the hospital yet. The nurse took her down the hall.

My father had my Mom's purse, wedding rings, and a bag of her clothes. He had been up all night. It felt sort of pitiful even though I knew that she was Ok and would be alright. We both greeted each other and then went to the waiting room. They gave us a pager that would light up when my Mom was finished and we could go see her. I didn't like the feeling. Buzz...Buzz... Your Person is Ready. It's my Mom.

My Father wanted to rest and my sister wanted me to come meet up with her so she could be at the hospital when my Mom woke up. I met her at our great-aunt's house and we rode together back over to the paid parking lot. Back to the maze of color coded hall ways and random elevators. We sat with our Dad while he slept on a bench and we attempted a cross word puzzle to pass the time. The old man next to us was very entertained at our inability to spell.

Once we knew her surgery was completed and all was well... we were told we could not see her for another hour or two, so we went to lunch... in the hospital cafeteria. Woo hoo!! It was not too bad, really. And then, it happen, our pager light up thing went off. She was ready. She was actually really out of it at that point, but we were allowed to go back there and be with her. She had made it thru and had 4 incisions to show for it!!

Then I came home to nurse the baby and we all went to my parents house off and on over the next several days to help out. She is doing much better now. It's an odd feeling to help take care of the one who always takes care of you. I'm so glad that we are all Ok now!!

2 comments:

Writeaway said...

I loved reading your post because I didn't know most of this! I didn't know about the crossword puzzle, I didn't know about the buzzer (like being at Longhorn's in the waiting area! And I am NOT chopped meat! Well - I am chopped...), I didn't know about the kissing area... I did know you love me. And I love you. How much I love you is something you don't know. You can't. It's too much to comprehend.

Mom

Joy said...

I'm glad your mom is doing better! I used to work in a kitchen in a hospital. The cafeteria food is WAY WAY WAY better then the food we sent to the patients' rooms (they're purposefully bland).