A Brief Hospital Stay

Emotionally, it's been an up-and-down few days. We were well into our driving trip this past Saturday when S1 sent a text that B1 was taking my mom to the hospital. My mom had not been feeling well for several days and I had been worried about her, even mentioning it to a few friends last week. On Friday, I asked her if she'd prefer for us to not going away for the weekend, but she was adamant that we go and have a good time. I was even texting with her on Saturday morning to check in on see how she was feeling, and she once again wished us a fun trip. So I was shocked to receive the text from S1 about B1 taking her to the hospital.

Here's the thing about my mom. She is tough. And incredibly selfless. I'm pretty sure she was downplaying things so that we wouldn't cancel our trip. This is just how she is – always putting everyone else before herself.

For me, it has been extremely challenging to not have my mom living with us right now because I haven't been able to keep tabs on how she is on a daily basis. I'm so grateful for B1 and S1 because they have taken such incredible care of her over the past seven months, running errands for her, taking her to appointments, and helping her with any and everything she has needed. They'd been telling us that she hadn't been feeling well, but I think my mom was also downplaying it for them, even though they see her every day. Like I said, she is tough and selfless.

She ended up being hospitalized over the weekend and B2 drove down from NY to help our mom and to relieve B1 after a very long day in the ER. Naturally I was a bit panicky about not being there, and I freely admit that I am prone to "control freak" tendencies at times. However, my two brothers handled things and insisted we not rush home bc there are still very strict COVID protocols in place at the hospital and there was nothing we would have been able to do. B2 was not allowed in the hospital on Saturday because B1 had already been there and they are still only allowing one visitor per day (these are the same restrictions that were in place back in March), but he was able to be with her on Sunday.

Two days of testing revealed that she has some type of sinus infection that's making it even more difficult for her to breathe than usual (she only has 30% functioning in her lungs due to the pulmonary fibrosis). They changed her medications and they discharged her on Sunday night, so B2 took her home, got her settled, and spent the night taking care of her.

Once again, I'm reminded that I have the best siblings in the world!

She has some follow-up appointments, so I drove to MD this morning and picked her up, and she'll be with us for at least a few days while she gets some of her strength back. Seeing her in person and hugging her after being worried for the past many days was the best feeling ever! The good news is that the medication seems to be working because she is feeling better and is experiencing less pain and pressure on her lungs.

I know my niece and nephew will miss seeing her for a few days, but I'm so delighted she's here. As you can see in the photo, Ginny's pretty delighted, too!

Happy Tails to you!