Mom is Home (and It Takes a Village)...

Here I am with my nightly 'news report'. I know, you just can't wait to open your email every morning for this. It beats Huffington Post, People.com, Facebook,The Onion, The Daily Beast, Salon.com, and even the NY Times. Ha! I've been so crazy lately, I think I may have kicked my addiction to Facebook! (I have not, however, kicked my pajama addiction. In fact, it seems to be worsening. :))


Anyways, Mom is home and she and Asher are asleep in the den. He decided to 'guard' her tonight. 


We don't know much more than we did yesterday, but here is what we do know:

• Mom is definitely having an allergic reaction to one of the meds. Right after the stent is inserted they start so many medications at one time it is difficult to figure out what is causing which side effects. She has already stopped the ACE inhibitor (Vasotec), but it can take up to two weeks for it to completely leave the body. Her rash covers most of her body and is still super itchy. The other possibility is the Plavix. She may start an alternative to Plavix tomorrow just to see if she can clear up the rash.
• Mom DID get to see her cardiologist today. He did a stress test on her. Because of her back and neck problems, she had to do the test in which a medication is injected to increase the heart rate. Despite the fact that she said she felt as if her head was going to explode during the test, her heart muscle, the valves, etc. look VERY GOOD. She got to see all of the pretty pictures of her heart. Everything looks good.
• She is anemic and they don't know what is going on. We have some concern about this because my uncle developed hemolysis or hemolytic anemia around the time he had his stents put it. This is an extremely rare, but dangerous, form of anemia. The cardiologist took the anemia very seriously and did a bunch of specialized tests. Mom's looking kinda yellow. 
• We have no answers as to the cause of her angina-type symptoms, except that she has not had any since yesterday (good news!). The cardiologist said that if the symptoms were truly angina the nitroglycerin would help immediately. He doesn't feel her symptoms are heart-related, but we also don't have alternative answers other than something like indigestion. :P EVERY doctor that Mom saw (ER, hospitalists, cardiologist) said that angina was NOT normal after having a stent placed, so we were rightfully concerned.
• The cardiologist wrote on his OWN notepad to call Mom personally tomorrow to see how she was feeling. Keep your fingers crossed!

The nurses all reassured Mom that she absolutely made the right decision to go to the ER. Understandably, she's just frustrated with all of the waiting and another hospital stay, but Oh, how she reminds me of my grandmother and my uncle. They are all very crabby patients! 

We are also learning that Mom is a lot like me when it comes to medication sensitivities, and we will need to have patience as we try to find what she is going to tolerate and what is going to help her to feel better. As even Mom will admit, patience is NOT her middle name.

She also has a follow-up next week with the PA, but her cardiologist said he would be in the office also that day, as Mom mentioned that she did not feel comfortable with the PA. 

Mom seems much less 'rattled' than I am over all of this. Whether rational or not, I worry that she won't wake up in the morning...

Tonight our neighbor delivered a home cooked meal of salmon, rice and asparagus already served on plates. I am so grateful to my friend who suggested the Take Them a Meal site! (Note: If you emailed me for a password to our site and I never got back to you...um, could you remind me? I know, this is embarrassing!)  It was the first time Mom and I ate a meal and actually enjoyed it since this all happened. We both wanted to lose weight, but this wasn't quite the way we had planned to do so! Food tasted good tonight, and we took that as a good sign for both of us. Dad also made me eggs for lunch, which he was very proud of. :)

I never end a post these days without expressing our gratitude for each and every one of you. I want to thank you all for reaching out in many different ways. We truly have been surrounded by a village, one that I think we never truly trusted we had.  I think we've felt so busy surviving and taking care of ourselves, that we don't feel we give back in the ways we wish we could. So, the generosity that continues to come our way often feels 'undeserved', and is certainly overwhelming and humbling. 

Thank you to each of you for doing what you are good at, whether it is prayer, emotional support or physical support. All are equally valued.

Without Mom home, I rely on help for almost everything from helping to get out meals, feeding Asher, letting him out, etc. Today, we were blessed with a grocery delivery, a Farmer's market delivery, a dog groomer pick up and drop off for Asher, and dinner, as well as continued help from Dad and Abbie. While today had to be spent focusing on the physical needs of the house, emotional support continued to come in--through cards, flowers, emails and calls. Mom was so excited to come home to cards and flowers after her not-so-pleasant hospital stay. I want to thank those of you who continue to email, call and text with support, understanding, information, and love. I have not been able to do much email beyond taking care of coordinating things...  

Thank you to ALL of you for being our village.

May your Thanksgiving be blessed, peaceful, full of gratitude, and spent surrounded by those you love most.

Blessings, 

Emily