Don't you just hate it when.....

you have your whole day mapped out and then... BAM! ... things change!!
Yep. This is what happened to me today. I took off work so that I could be at the hospital this morning when my mom was discharged from the hospital. (This would be a non-paid day off, since I used my 3 paid days when I had my surgery!)

When I arrived (about 9:00am), I passed my mom's heart doctor at the nurses station. I thought to myself... "Oh good! He's here! That means that I should see him soon and he will release her soon." He was busy, of course, so I didn't stop to talk to him.

I went down the hall to my mom's room and found her sound asleep! I snuck in and sat down with my "everything bagel" that I stopped and bought at Panera Bread. YUM!! I turned the TV to my favorite morning channel and sat there, in peace, eating my bagel, waiting for the doctor to arrive and release my mom.

My mom awoke to the nurse coming in to do her job, about 30 minutes after I arrived. After the nurse left, she fell back to sleep and I enjoyed more "me time". **Smile**

The next time the nurse came in, I asked her when the doctor was going to come and release my mom. She, of course, had no clue!

So.... I waited some more. I watched TV. My mom snoozed. I read my book. My mom snoozed.

Finally.... about 11:30am, her heart doctor came in. He said that he wanted to keep her another night to continue draining the fluid off her lungs.

My heart sank, but I understood.

Now, I had to make the dreaded phone call to the nursing home to beg plead ask for more time to be given to us so that my mom would not lose her place at the nursing home, without us paying the extra expense.

Thankfully, the director granted us another day! So.... I am now praying (again) that my mom goes home TOMORROW!

I hate that I wasted a day of not going to work. I don't think I can afford to miss another day, so I WILL be going to work tomorrow, but my phone will be GLUED to my side!! 

you are in the middle of typing a blog post, email, letter, etc. and then... BAM!! ... the screen goes blank!!
This happened to me as I started to write this post!! I HATE when that happens! Thankfully, Blogger saves your posts in a draft! 

you just clean your carpets and then... BAM!! ... the dog tracks in mud!!
Yep. This happened just the other day! We don't get rain for weeks!!! And as soon as we clean the carpets.... here comes the monsoon! Guess it's a good thing that we now own a carpet shampooer!

you get a flower garden planted and then.... BAM!! .... the dog digs it up!!
Yep. I never had a dog that liked to dig until we got Chester. Of course, with my other dogs, I had never had a freshley planted flower garden in the yard either! I sure hope he grows out of it before Spring! I want to replant what he dug up!

Life Changes Quickly

Once again, that "roller coaster" called LIFE has taken a huge dip down again for me.

My mother was admitted to the hospital on Friday because of difficulties in breathing.

About a year and half ago, she was diagnosed with Congestive Heart Failure and was in the hospital for about a week. Since then, her doctor has managed to keep it under control with medications & oxygen 24/7.

Over the past few weeks, I knew that she wasn't feeling well... but, I also know that she has so many health issues, that it could have been any number of things causing her to feel bad. I didn't really worry about her because I felt that she was in great care at her nursing home.

Friday, I got the "always dreaded" phone call from the nursing home that they were sending her by ambulance to the emergency room. This, of course, was NOT a good day for me to spend at the hospital! (What day is??) David and I were in the middle of shampooing our carpets.

You may think that I am a terrible daughter, but I decided that I would wait and see how serious her condition was before I went rushing down there to sit ALL DAY in the emergency room. I knew that she was in good hands. I did call our pastor to let him know, so that he would be alerted.

Later in the day, she was admitted to the hospital and I learned that they were treating her for the Congestive Heart Failure, once again. Chest x-rays showed fluid on her lungs.

I talked to her on the phone and she sounded good, which made me feel better. I decided to wait until the morning to go visit her.

The next morning (Saturday), she was taken for another x-ray and an EKG. Not long after she came back to her room, the cardiologist that read her x-ray and EKG, came in and talked to us about what he saw.

Apparently, her heart has weakened over the past couple of years to only 40-45%. This is not good, but it explains a lot.

He asked her a lot of questions about her stroke that she had 5 years ago and also about her symptoms with the CHF. He said that for now, they are just going to continue to drain the fluid and to treat her with medications, but he would like to know what is "causing" the CHF.

Yesterday, (Sunday), when I talked to the doctor... he suggested that they do a Heart Catherization on her so that they can determine what the cause is. So... that will most likely happen this afternoon (Monday).

Another problem that we are facing is that, because my mom is on Medicaid, the nursing home can only hold her bed there for so many days. The "number" of days, at the moment, is unclear to me. THAT is my #1 priority this morning ... to find out how many days she has left before she loses her bed.

I am trying VERY hard not to worry about this and to remember that God is in control of the situation and He knows what she needs. AND.... He will take care of her needs and mine.

I have to remember that.... it is not MY will, but HIS.

It's about what HE wants, not what I WANT.

I don't know how many of you are Christian, but if you are.... I would love it if you would please add my mother (and myself) to your prayers.

My prayer for my mom is "healing", whether it be on this earth or in God's Kingdom in Heaven.

Thank you.