November 6 (Friday)...
Yesterday was a very full and tiring day. My mom had her heart procedure yesterday. However, our first concern of the day was that we not miss Mass for Friday (a devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus). so we made every effort to make this possible before heading to the hospital. Besides, what better way to start the day than with our Lord!
She also spoke about wishing the liturgy of the day would give her some peace of mind. Before Mass I was asked to lector. I later told her that while I reflected on the first reading of the Mass, I thought of her:
“He will change our lowly body to conform with his glorified Body by the power that enables him also to bring all things into subjection to himself.”Phillipians 3:17-4:1
I don’t know about her, but I felt great relief that God would be holding her in his arms throughout the day.
When we were sending her into the hospital, our little miss told my mom that she hoped my mom would have a great day. My mom laughed and said she would try her best.
I felt terrible, as she must feel when the roles are reversed, leaving her alone at the hospital doors. However, I know she is a tough lady and can take care of herself. My only resolve was to have the children and I stay as close as possible to the hospital should we be needed.
I met with a friend of mine (Nancy) and we stayed busy with our favorite hobby of geocaching. We started at 10:30am and continued until 6pm. We enjoyed a family style meal at Zoe’s Kitchen. If you have never done this, I must say that it is a great experience for what would normally be a fast food meal (albeit healthier than most). At the location we found near the hospital, we were treated like royalty. They even helped us provide a meal for us to take to my mom!
While we were wandering around in circles within a couple of miles radius from the hospital, my mom was not having a great day...good but not great...as she later told us.
Sje arrived and started the extensive preparation for the procedure. Just when she thought she would be going to the surgery room, she was told the surgeon would be delayed an hour. Turns out it was a little longer, but she waited. I thought it funny that she told me... If my daughter could endure her treatments, then I can endure this. Hmmm... I guess we know who taught me to be so strong.
We would hear from the surgeon after the procedure. He called and I was convinced we were talking to a game show host...
Is this Michelle Reynolds? Come on down!!! You have won the grand prize of picking up your mother in two hours!
I could not have been more pleased. I would gladly wait two more hours to take her home on the same day, instead of the next morning that we had prepared for in our worst case scenarios.
So Michael came and picked up the crew...six hours was a long time to go in circles.
Then Nancy and Sean waited with me until the end. At 6:30pm when there was no sign of mom at the exit doors, I was going in for the rescue. It turned out my mom decided to have some internal bleeding at the entry point of the procedure. Not a good idea to let her go home as planned. The nurses were great about getting the situation under control. She was finally released with instructions to watch the area closely.
We made it home restless but at peace all would be fine. I was exhausted but left my mom with instructions to call me immediately. I figured it was better to call then walk across the house to find me in the middle of the night.
No need to worry. When I woke up to check on her the next morning, she was already making her own breakfast. So much for taking care of mom.
So the end result was finding out she had at most 50% blockage of her arteries. Not bad for an 80 year old woman with high blood pressure! She was told to consult with her regular cardiologist for medication change. So we will see what happens with that next week.
Thank you all for your continued prayers for all of our family. We feel so blessed with the results after this long exhausting day. Praise be to God!!
COMMENTS
Linda Austin
A perfect first reading for day. Prayers for full recovery.
Angie Fischer Artho
Glad she is doing well. What a great passage to start the day with!
No comments:
Post a Comment