The latest and not so greatest news

So today I decided to take time out to sit down and post on my blog.  I am still going to write about what I have been writing about... just a different venue.

2 weeks ago today my Mom had her surgery.  The surgery that was needed because of multiple trips to the ER that I have blogged about before.  However what was supposed to be a simple surgery, has turned into 14 days in the hospital, and 13 days in ICU. 

What wasn't known to me, and probably for good reason, was that it was real touch and go for a few days there.  However I think they (the nurses) told me and the doctors alluded to it.  Maybe I just didn't hear it.  Anyway, here we are 2 weeks since her surgery, and I am exhausted.  Mom is still pretty sick, but everyday seems to be a little bit better.  It is going very slow, and she has been in ICU all this time, and I have gotten to know the nurses very well.

I have been keeping touch with people by way of Facebook, and e-mail and phone.  Mom doesn't realize of course that 2 weeks have gone by, and a stuff has happened outside of her hospital room.  For instance, her good friend passed away yesterday.  I haven't told her, and I don't think I will till she gets home and settled. 

Another thing is this is not the fault of the mechanics of the surgery.  That went very well.  It seems she contacted a bacteria, and her kidney shut down.  They seem to be working fine now, according to the blood tests, but with her Parkinsons, there are other complications that don't make themselves obvious right away.

So.. I and usually George have been going up to the hospital everyday for the past two weeks.  Twice a day, and between I am fixing dinner, and feeding the dogs, and giving Schatzie her insulin shot twice a day, calling family, trying to get stuff done in the house.  George runs the errands for me while I am at the hospital, and occasionally,  I run them with them because I need some diversion from the hospital.

Right now she still has the intubation tube, and she is not sedated, and it is very uncomfortable for her.  She wants to go home, and I think she thinks I put her in a nursing home.  She can't talk, but that doesn't stop her from talking at length, even though no sounds come out of her mouth, and I can't understand anything she says.  They have her breathing spontaneously even though the tube is there for support, and if she needs help inhaling or exhaling, it is there.  Every day they take her off the ventilator as support, and she is breathing entirely on her own for 1-2 hours.  This is all in an effort to wean her off the ventilator.  She can't have it any longer than Thursday, and even though the nurses are all saying it will be tomorrow, until tomorrow is Thursday, it will not be happening... I know that, even though no one has told me.

So today is the day that I need a break from all this hospital stuff.  So George and I will be going to the Dry Cleaners, pet food store, bank, and maybe.... just maybe... Kohls.

The work will not be over for a long time... because once Mom comes home... the real work will start...