Mom: Heading into Surgery on Thursday!

Hello all!

I just wanted to put out a little blog to ask for your good thoughts for my mom on Thursday the 18Th.

She's having surgery on a torn rotator cuff. She says it's from writing on the blackboard for 30 years! Way to start off your retirement Mom! haha.

Anyways, we're feeling very confident in the surgeon--he's the best of the best. Usually the procedure is an outpatient one, but since I can't exactly take care of Mom, she's going to stay overnight. She's not so good with meds (just like me) so she'll probably be pretty loopy and staying overnight seems like a good plan.

My friend of forever, Jeannine, is 'in charge' for the surgery. She's going to be taking Mom for the surgery, sitting in that dreaded surgical waiting room (the surgery is about 2 hours) and then talking to the surgeon afterwards.

In the last year and a half, Jeannine has become quite the medical expert as she deals with her mom's cancer. Any medical jargon used to be like a foreign language to her (sort of like when she starts her history talk to to me) but now she's really got this stuff down! It makes us both laugh in the midst of what is for any of us, our worst nightmare--watching our mother be terminally ill at such a young age. Jeannine continues to amaze us with her strength and perseverance, and we are very blessed that on top of everything she already has on her plate, she will be helping us out in a time of need.

I feel so confident in having her there--but it's still super hard for me not to be the one there with my mom and not to be able to go visit my mom and check in on her. Thank goodness for cell phones! I'm not so fond of the nurses on the med-surge floor after my gallbladder surgery!

Jeannine works at the hospital, so she says she'll where her badge and everyone will listen to her!

On Friday morning, my Dad and Abbie will be picking Mom up and bringing her home to her old lady chair (yes, she bought a lift chair to sleep in after the surgery as you can't lie down for the first few weeks).

Of course it's her right arm that she will have immobilized in a sling for 4-6 weeks! Yikes!

She's been cooking like crazy and freezing stuff. She even bought a new upright freezer to put all the food in (our other freezer was only 30 years old, the spring on the top was broken and she's hit it twice with the car!). Hopefully we won't go hungry (I swear my mom's energy goes entirely into keeping me fed!).

She's been working her way through a list a mile long of stuff to do before surgery. She's getting there. We have kids to mow the lawn, Celeste (my caregiver) will be working extra hours, Abbie offered to help me with lunches or do laundry, we hired a dog walker for Asher Dasher.

Having us both on the 'Disabled List' is going to be quite a challenge! I am hoping we can keep a sense of humor through it all, but I know we are both going to be just surviving each day. I'm sure the house will be a HUGE mess when it's all over with.

I'm a bit worried about Mom being able to sit still and rest without becoming frustrated with all the things she can't do. She's never had to sit still like this. She's always go, go, go. I've set her up with a stack of movies that I found used on amazon.com so she can rest in her old lady chair and watch some good movies (she doesn't have a DVD player yet, so I had to hunt down some VHS tapes--super fun because you can find them for as little a a penny a piece!).

Still, Mom has done an amazing job thinking ahead and preparing for the surgery (would a Jewish mommy do it any other way? :)) so we hope that she has anticipated many of her needs in advance--such as stocking up on pull-on pants, zip or button tops, and the greatest slippers from my cousin.

I hope my mom can sit still and just 'be' for a bit. She needs the down time. But, she's also going to be using most of her energy for ADL's and PT.

I wish I could be of more help to her, as she's done nothing but take care of me for the past nine years! I keep telling her she's going to be Ms. Grumpy and she's saying, "Yes, I will!" Uh-oh!

Anyways, that's the scoop from our crazy little world. Nothing like an adventure.

Please keep my Mom in your thoughts and prayers on Thursday for the surgery, as well as for a a speedy and not-too-painful recovery process.

Blessings,

Emily