Long after I was no longer sick, I had no energy.
At the beginning of November, I realized my dogs can't tell time.
They did not understand that what they THOUGHT was 5:AM, which was pretty okay by me,
was now 4:AM which was why I was sitting on the love seat drinking coffee at 4:30 when my phone rang.
It was the emergency room doctor telling me that my mother had been brought in via ambulance with severe stomach pain (remember she had three emergency surgeries in four years for twisted intestines) and that they did a CT scan and found blockage. They felt that it was more that they could handle on a local level and wanted permission to transfer her to an acute care hospital.
Within two hours, I had spoken to two surgeons and the anestheologist. All three told me that without surgery, she would die. I gave permission.
Two hours after that, I got a call from a third surgeon who told me that her entire small intestine was dead and that her blood pressure bottomed out and her heart stopped. They did get her heart beating and told us they would TRY to keep it going until we got there to say good bye.
I called my kids, my brother and her pastor. There were nine of us in all.
About 3, they took her off the ventilator and we stood around her bed, telling "Toots" stories until she took her final breath.
Funny thing, my mom was 89, had multiple health issues, each more serious that the last. Every day for the past three years, I wondered if this would be the last day for her, yet it was such a shock when it finally happened. She was raking leaves the day before!
I'm still in shock.
On the other hand, Locklan and I had a conversation about death. He was impressed that Grandma Toots now lived in heaven and was all better but he wished he could see her just one more time.
I thought that was sweet until he explained that he just wanted to see her with all the strings on her.
Strings?
Yes. He figured that God had to tie people down so they didn't float away.
Out of the mouth of babes.
So that's where I've been. It's been a tough year but there were certainly good things happening.
I'll come back and share them. Soon.
2 comments:
I am so sorry for your loss. I hope you can take comfort that she "raked leaves the day before" and did not linger in pain. It is extra painful to lose a loved-one during the holidays, and my sympathies to you and your family.
So sorry. Hoping next year is better, and that you can smile again at the "Toots" stories together.
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