Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Amazing woman

My mother is an amazing woman.  Since October Mom has had her ups and downs.   The last down was almost the end.   Around Christmas she started bleeding in her urinary tract...bladder..somewhere.  There was lots of blood in her catheter bag.  She was weak and didn't want to eat.

It was serious and she is DNR.  The nursing home staff and hospice staff and doctors agreed that antibiotics were needed and Mom might need blood.  They put her to bed and gave her medication to keep her comfortable.  For several days they monitored her blood pressure which was falling.  They told me that I might want to say my goodbyes.  They cried, I cried, but I understood the situation. 

I was sitting by her bed watching her sleep and remembering years past.  Her breathing was raggedy and seemed to take great effort.  Then Mom opened her eyes and weakly whispered something....I leaned in to hear her and asked "what?"   She said in a much stronger voice, "I want toast, egg....and milk."  A turning point!   Quickly I told the nurse and she said that was a good sign.  They got her toast, soup, jello and milk
and she gobbled it down.  Within a few days she was back in her wheelchair cruising the halls of the nursing home.

She doesn't know me now, but she still has a smile for me.  Especially since I take her cookies most every day.   She doesn't talk very much anymore.  She can't seem to form a thought and verbalize it.  I like to take my husband or granddaughter with me when I visit, as she seems to enjoy hearing us talk and watching our faces.   I don't know, but I hope we give her a little window into the world.

She is an amazing woman...a woman of contradictions...fragile and strong, hard-headed but has a smile for everybody.