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August 28, 2007
Update on Mom
I'm back at home now...boy I needed a break. I slept in till 11am this morning! I haven't done that in a LONG time. I called my dad yesterday who told me my mom was back in the ICU and has to use a respirator to help her breathe (looks a lot like those that fighter pilots use). Apparently, a very small part of her lung had collapsed. But I talked to my brother today who says she's back on a solid food diet and off the respirator during the day. He says she's looking more perky today.
Don and I were planning on go to Meaford, Canada this weekend. If my mom wasn't doing well, we'd cancel the trip, but from what my brother says, that shouldn't be necessary--which means mom is doing better. And that makes me feel very relieved.
Posted by Amy at 04:27 PM | Comments (0)
August 24, 2007
Hospital Hopping
UGH! It's been about 2 weeks of hospital hopping for me. I spent a couple days last week visiting my mom who's in the hospital in Kalamazoo. Then I came back on Monday of this week and have been here ever since. (I MISS DON!!!) She's had a problem with her colon where one of the arteries supplying it with blood is not working properly. The problem started on the 4th of July and she spent about a week in the hospital in Detroit, but she left without a proper diagnosis or treatment. Plus, she wasn't happy at all with the level of care she received there. So she ended up at Borgess Methodist Hospital where John, my brother in law works.
She had to have surgery to remove about a quarter of her colon because they decided that rather than have the problem persist and get worse (which it has been), they should operate and eliminate the problem. It's been a bit of a slow recovery. But she looks better and better every day, though we have to really push her hard to get her to sit up in the chair, take walks up and down the hallway, and practice her breathing exercises so that she can step up from a liquid diet (including a nutritional IV) to a soft and eventually solid food diet. Sooner she gets to solid food, the sooner she gets out of the hospital.
Aside from being sick and having to cancel her trip to Egypt, she's really loving it there. She proclaims every day how uncomparable the level of care is there. The nursing staff, the doctors, everyone...even the guy who cleans her room every day. They really take good care of her there. I just wish she'd get better and get the heck outta there. I've been there every day helping her get in and out of bed, take walks, get washed up, untangling her IV lines, and whatever else she needs me to do.
And my friend Sue spent a week in the hospital last week for problems with fluid collecting in the lining of her lungs due to her cancer. They had to insert a tube and drain it slowly. But I think she got out Tuesday.
But MAN, for what Sue and my mom have been through in their lives--cancer, multiple surgeries, and procedures--I REALLY admire their strength!!! AMAZING women, those two!!!
And poor Pammie...she's sick too, though not like Mom and Sue. She's pregnant and going through SEVERE nausea: throwing up about 9 or 10 times a day (literally). She's got some medicine that is helping a bit, but she still gets sick a few times a day. I know she's ABSOLUTELY MISERABLE!!! And I'm sure most people don't really understand how bad it is for her. I'm sure I don't, but I've got SOOOOOOOOOO much sympathy for her. I just wish there was SOMETHING I could do for her. :( I'll tell you: Pam is ONE TOUGH FRIGGIN' CHICK and for something like this to kick her ass really says how bad it is.
When you think about it, all my "Moms" are sick! My real mom, and Pam and Sue who are my backup moms. What am I gonna do for a mommy???
Posted by Amy at 09:04 PM | Comments (0)
August 01, 2007
Harry Potter
So I've just finished reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the seventh and final Harry Potter book. I won't give anything away except to say it is REALLY GOOD!! The plot and the twists and turns are REALLY well-done. And no detail is unimportant!
I'd gone one night to the grocery store and saw they were selling it at 40% off, so I thought, yeah, why the hell not? I got it home and started reading it immediately and got through about 2 1/2 chapters or so when I came to a realization: I've seen the first five movies, one for each book. But I hadn't yet read the sixth book, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. So I had to stop reading it because it was jumping ahead in the saga and a few things weren't making sense.
The next day, I went to the local bookstore to look for the HP: HBP. I was a little worried they didn't have it since I didn't see it on the shelf, but luckily, I asked someone who produced it out of the back. I think they'd just gotten a shipment in and I believe I got the only copy of that book they had. :)
So, of course, I read that right away. With all the free time I've had not working, I've been reading practically non-stop and even though HP: HBP and HP: DH are both about 700 pages long, I managed to get through them in about 3-4 days each.
And as I neared the end of the seventh book, I thought I should REALLY go back and read the first five books. Even though I've seen the movies, which stay VERY true to the books, it's been quite a while since I've seen the first few. So reading the books will not only help me remember what happened, I'll get more detail and get a better understanding of the saga. Plus I'll be able to learn what spells do what and figure out some of the other characters better.
Luckily, the first two books came and I'm in the middle of HP: Sorcerer's Stone. I'm hoping the other three will get here by Friday, then I'll have PLENTY to read when Don and me go to my parents' cottage this weekend (there's not much to do but sit around and look at the water, but it's pleasant there). I'm trying to go slowly with the first two because a) I don't have the other books and b) they're about half the length of the last two. And at the rate I'm going, I could be done really quick.
I'm just amazed at the fact that I never got into reading the books years ago. I remember when it all started, I was in my first apartment and the neighbor girl who was about 11 was reading them and I just thought they were little kids' books. They are, but they're not. They're written at an adult enough level that I'm really enjoying myself! And that's saying a LOT since I usually NEVER read for pleasure. It's just too bad that the saga's ended! :(
I was afraid the Sorcerer's Stone and Chamber of Secrets wouldn't arrive till later in the week and I would have spent a few days going through HP withdrawal. But I finished Deathly Hallows at about 4pm the yesterday and around 7pm, I noticed a package from Amazon with SS & CoS. Just hope they hurry up with the other three!
HARRY POTTER RULES!!
Posted by Amy at 10:23 PM | Comments (4)