Yesterday, I was going to write about how quiet and peaceful it's been around here and then of course, things changed. My dad called me to go look in on my mom because he couldn't hear her. I went into her bedroom and she was standing, holding onto her walker next to her bed. I said, "Mom, are you ok?" and she said, "No, I don't feel good," without looking up at me. I asked her, "Are you going to throw up?" and she said, "Yes." So I quickly grabbed the bathroom garbage can and just when I turned around, she started sliding down her walker. I threw the garbage can on her bed and tried to hold her up under her arms, but I couldn't, and so I told her, "Just slide down to your knees, mom." She did, with her eyes closed and then when I tried to talk to her she didn't respond. At that point, my dad came in the room and looked at me as if to say, "What do we do?" and I said to lay her flat. So my dad laid her on the floor and straightened out her legs, all the while trying to get her to respond. A minute later, she opened her eyes and asked what had happened.
I called 911 and the EMT came out and looked at her. She looked an awful color of gray and although she didn't want to go to the hospital, they convinced her to, so off she went. I followed along in the car and my dad stayed behind. He still hasn't been feeling well either. I thought about this later, but when I had my mom in my arms, I felt like God was saying, "This is why you're here." I guess it really is.
So I sat with mom in the emergency room and they hooked her up to all kinds of tests and gave her anti-nausea medicine, as she had been sick to her stomach all day. The doctor came in and said they were going to keep her overnight to watch her and do more tests. So far today, they still don't know what is wrong, but because she has had severe diarrhea, they are keeping her another night.
I thought she might have had a stroke, but they haven't said anything. And now with her stomach issues, I don't know what that would be from. They took a test to see if she still has Mersa, but the test hasn't come back yet.
I'm not a person who deals with death well. Other than my great Uncle Irwin (who I named Micah after) and my Papa, no one close to me has ever died. I briefly thought of this when I looked at my mom and her face looked gray. It was very strange, but I didn't freak out. I was unusually calm. I know death will come to all of us, one way or the other, but it's always been something that I can't wrap my mind around. And when I did see my mom like that, I realized that one day she will die, and that's just the reality of it.
But not yet. She's alive and kickin' and although very sick, still makes annoying jokes to the nurses. My mom has a very unusual sense of humor. Most people don't get her humor at first - it takes them a minute for them to undersand what she's talking about. And then they say, "Oh.... hahahah." Not a hearty ha ha ha, but more like "Ok, I understand now, but that's really not so funny...." But of course no one is that rude to say it. She tells whoever will listen that I am her "favorite daughter," and will wait for their reaction. They inevitably say, "Ah, but then she's your only daughter, right?" My mom will chuckle and she gets a big kick out of this. I can't tell you how many times I have heard this in my lifetime. I just smile and pretend I'm amused. At least she tries; that's the important part.
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