Quick update. Mom's surgery went well today. PTL!! The ENT (ear, nose and throat) doctor said that the surgery was a success, mom's voice is a bit louder and stronger already, and she had no problem waking up from the anesthesia. After she was in recovery, they gave her fenitol (a pain killer) even though we told everyone that, due to her head injury and as per her neurologist, no pain meds. They also tried to give her percaset while John was with her in the late afternoon!! Advocacy never ends!! Mom was even begging them not to give the percaset to her and they wouldn't listen to her. Good thing John was there.
An aside: Mom gave me an article the other day about "brain research and Alzheimer's" for me and Claudia to read!! She has been getting so much better lately!! She used to rip out articles for us before all this happened to her.
OK, back to the surgery today. Dad and I brought mom to the hospital. I told her that, today, she wouldn't be a whale anymore because they were closing her "blow hole" in her neck---and that they were sewing on a tail for her so she could be a mermaid instead now!! Mom and Dad can't hear well and the day was funny because of this at times. I said: "Let's make prank phone calls" Mom said, "What? Do I want a hot dog?" The nurse said, "Give a holler" Mom said, "Do I want a pillow?" At one point, mom began to tell a story and so did dad--both at the same time. I sat between the two and neither one knew the other was talking at the same time....I listened to both, responded to both and read and texted as they talked!!! Mom told a story about being a first grader in Brooklyn when her tonsils were removed and how Grammy, her mother, took her to the hospital on a trolley car because mom began to hemorrhage after eating cookies after her surgery! She said she held a huge towel under her chin as they road the trolley!!!
She was anxious. I distracted her by playing "I Love Lucy" episodes on my phone for her. She loved it! We watched, "Vitameatavegemin" "I Am Queen of the Gypsies!" and the one where Lucy locks herself in the trunk and she and Dr. Peterson sing, "Flies in the Buttermilk, Shoo Fly Shoo." She recited poems to me also like "The Owl and the Pussycat" and "Do Ships Have Eyes" and "I Think That I Shall Never See A Poem as Lovely as a Tree." She cried and was anxious on and off though in between.
Do ships have eyes when they go to sea?
Are there springs in the ocean's bed?
Does the Jolly Tar flow from a tree?
Can a river lose its head?
Could you bring relief to a window pane?
Or mend the break of day?
Would you paint a rabbit on a bald man's head,
Just to give him a bit of hare?
If you ate a square meal would the corners hurt?
Can you dig with the Ace of spades?
Would you throw a rope to a drowning lemon,
Just to give a lemon aid?
The surgery took over an hour but she came through fine. Dad and I saw her in the recovery room and she was miserable. She was very sore (mom is highly hypersensitive since the aneurysm...). She was crying a lot and complaining that her throat hurt. The wound on her neck runs horizontal in the front and is about 3 1/2 inches long easily. There is no bandage on the site. She has dissolvable stitches. She sees the ENT next week for a follow-up. Given her history, the ENT wanted her to stay overnight. She will return home tomorrow God Willing.
Terry, Con and Dad visited mom tonight again. Claudia sat by her bedside from 8-10:15 p.m. until mom fell asleep. All in all, it was a great day thank God.
Thanks so much for all the prayers....!!!!!!
"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your paths." Proverbs 3:5-6
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