Last Tuesday was the date of the surgery, and I headed over the mountains to help out as much as I could. I planned on leaving Friday morning, but the weather forced me to leave after work on Thursday. It was a quick trip over, due to the fact that I listened to a book on CD, but once it got dark the head lights of oncoming traffic were killer, I was very happy to have made it there safely!
Friday morning I headed up to the hospital, and mom was doing AMAZING! She was awake and perky, and pretty much in no pain. At this point they were anticipating her release from the hospital Sunday or Monday. Penny, her sister, was pretty out of it due to the pain meds. She had been told she "could" push the pain meds button every 15 min, so she took it as she "had" to push it.
Then 3:00 am hit and my mom started puking, so they took her to get x-rays to see if she had bowel issues. The nest morning the surgeon said that she was probably just in pain, and put her back on a pain pump where she could push the button every 8 minutes. So needless to say Saturday she was wacked! Dan and I had a lot of entertainment with mom's dreams and conversations. We even conducted dream experiments by seeing how influenced dreams were by suggestion, and how much she could dream in a specific amt. of time. Her dreams consisted of brushing a brown horse, ice cream sugar cones with lots of colorful scoops, being a discus thrower at a track meet (this one she was even tossing her arm around), going to the drag races where an old friend was racing the car (we suggested the Indy 500 on a sunny day), being a stock broker, and coming back into the marina after a day of snorkeling in New Zealand. Our other experiment consisted of having her pinch a pair of scissors then when she fell asleep they would drop and wake her, and she would report what she had dreamt in that time. (Dan and I are both dorks, and we figured out through the use of quadratic equations that the time it took the scissors to hit the ground was 1/4 of a second.) It was pretty impressive what she could dream in that short amount of time.
The funnies part of Sat. was at the end of the day the nurse said that they would have to give her an enema to get her bowels going, as the nurse was talking mom dozed off for a split second, then asked the nurse if there were classes required for that... only realizing after she said it that she was talking about her dream! Dan and I cracked up and I was amazed that the nurse could keep a straight face. I know Dan and I's actions may seem a bit harsh or insensitive, but I PROMISE that mom was a willing - though drugged- participant.
We even got a laugh about her receiving this t-shirt. We thought it should have said "I gave away half my liver and all I got was this T-shirt." (Doesn't she look great?!)
But the majority of Saturday was spent just hanging out and reading while mom rested.
Sunday, mom was much better and the doctors were weening her back onto oral meds so she could start managing her own pain and hopefully get discharged at the beginning of the week. Unfortunately I had to leave and head home, my family was missing me, and I them. But as of today, Dan said that she was back to how she felt Friday and she is looking forward to being discharged soon!
I am so thankful to God for putting Dan in my mom's life, he was/is such a good care giver... It really hit me while I was up there with him, how difficult this must be for him. His late wife had passed from brain cancer, and for the last two years of her life he was her caregiver, now to do it again for my mom must be a difficult situation. I am thankful to God that he is Dan's strength, his peace... and I pray the He will continue to bless him for the road to her recovery is not a short one.
Penny continues to show great success with her new liver. Her color is gradually changing back to normal. When I left her eyes were all white and her finger tips were turning pink... both great signs that the liver is working for her! She was all smiles when I saw her on her morning walk and when I said good bye. Every time she would come see my mom she would say "I love you sister!" It was an amazing thing...
It was so nice to stay with Kristen and Nate while I was there, they lived just around the corner and it took only 3 minutes to get to the hospital! The other perk for staying there was I got to love on my nieces. I am constantly amazed at their talent for making things beautiful. Their house transforms and becomes more beautiful each time I see it.
Learned: Seeing a human, your mom, give her life for someone you love and loves you is amazing thing. Makes what Jesus did even more amazing because He did it for all, even those who don't love Him and never will.
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