As I sit here finishing some chocolate ice cream, with my empty glass of sangria in front of me, it's hard to believe everything that's happened, and that it's only been 2 weeks.
Two weeks ago, yesterday, I took Emma to the dentist for a regular check-up. We discovered she has her first loose tooth, and went around the corner to my mom's office to show her and say hi. A few short hours later, I was following my mom's ambulance to the hospital with Emma in the backseat, complaining how far it was. I just kept thinking that it was good that they hadn't put the sirens on. When we finally were allowed to see her, she was barely conscious, and even less understandable. The priest at the hospital, while very sweet, was from Nigeria, and also barely understandable. I was losing it!
My mom spent about 3 days in ICU, and 2 days in a regular unit. This all started on Monday (we almost lost her that night). That Thursday, when I saw her (I went every day, thanks to my many wonderful friends who babysat for me, as kids under 14 weren't allowed), she was very scared about going back to living alone. I went home, and gave my husband three choices: 1) I move in with my mom 2) my mom moves in with us 3) we sell both homes and get a duplex or home with an in-law suite. We decided she would move in with us. We would have at least until Sunday to get ready. We would clean out the playroom, making it back into a bedroom, and move her bed, dresser, and a few other things into it.
While I was visiting her on Friday, the doctor released her!!! Well, we obviously weren't ready, so she went home to her house that night until Sunday afternoon while we got her room ready. By dinnertime on Sunday, she was all moved in and unpacked, thanks to a good friend who came to help us.
Now that she's been here a week, my head is still spinning. We're still waiting for test results to get a diagnosis, so we can better understand her condition, and what the future may hold. At this point, we still don't know if this arrangement will be forever, or if she can go back to her condo at some point. The top choices that the doctors are looking at are: a tumor on her brain that's affecting her balance (that could be removed and she could get back to normal), or Parkinson's, or MS, or Myesthenia Gravis. We see her regular doctor tomorrow, and the specialist a week from today.
Today I took her to physical therapy, where we discovered that her entire left side is much weaker than her right side. Then, we went from there, to a yard sale, where I got an actual school desk for Emma to use for kindergarten this year (homeschool) for $20! From there, we met another good friend of mine, and Emma's godmother, who took Emma for me for the afternoon for our other appointments (I have the best friends!). We went to Catholic Charities, and got hooked up with all kinds of resources, including a possible chair lift to help mom with the stairs, very inexpensive counseling, and caregiver services for me (including a free massage!). We were probably there about 3 hours total. Then, we met with a disability lawyer to get that process going, as my mom will most likely not be working again.
After all of that, I'm getting very impatient to get a new normal going, and some of this craziness to ease. Long story short, chocolate ice cream and sangria can help fix all kinds of things!
Dana
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