We Finally Got to Leave the ER

For you that have been following this....you will know what that means..she finally pooped!  She's feeling so much better...still really tired but finally eating a bit again and talking.  For those who know my mom well, the following story will assure you that she is better...for those of you who do not know my mom, some of you will think, "Wow, she is just like her daughter.....".  I had stayed the night with mom...she slept like a baby until about 6 am and I worked like a fiend trying to block the world out and focus on a world that is semi-controllable...I'm afraid the nurse probably thought that I was the worst daughter ever...every time something bad would pop up, I would comfort mom and then run to my computer.  Got alot done and stayed sane.  Anyway, I came back to the hotel at 9:30 to participate in some conference calls regarding work.  Around 1:30, I get a call from my brother to come and get them she is being released..... and he tells me something really disturbing...she is talking crazy and is slightly delusional both him and dad recognized it.  I told him that they needed to tell the nurse but he said that I needed to get there so I could see, however, I need to hurry because if I didn't she would be discharged...in the meantime, I get lost (I know!  I am only 1 block away and I GET LOST IN A FREAKING PARKING GARAGE!!!!!!!!!!! and I am not even parking!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)  Anyway, I call my dad and he will only answer in 2 word sentences so I have him hand the phone to the charge nurse....I tell her the situation and she says that she will do an assessment on mom....at this time, I am scared that she may have had a stroke or something.  All of a sudden I hear mom say in the background that she wants to talk to me which is great so I can talk to her myself and try to find out how she's really doing.  I say Hey mom and we loose the connection.  Bobby and I were talking later and what I didn't see that had happened was that mom asked to talk to me, reaches up for the phone, dad hands it to her and in front of everyone holds it up above her head and slams it shut!!!!!!!! and puts it in her pocket!!!!!  Dad and Bobby stand there with their mouths open and the charge nurse mouths to my brother, "What do I do?" to which mom looks her in the eye and says, I am not staying her all day!!!  After hearing this story, I knew that my mother was absolutely, perfectly fine mentally.

She was horribly constipated.  They were worried about toxicity from the chemo and the constipation and of course, perforation if we didn't get things moving...thank goodness this was not the case.  It took alittle bit of everything to get things moving again...but she should be good to go or at least better.  She is extremely fatigued.  From what we have been told, this is normal especially for the regimen she is on.  She will be exhausted for 5-7 days after...we get 4 good days and back again.  The wonderful thing is that the pain is gone. She hadn't had a pain pill since 3:00 pm yesterday.  I did give her one before she went to bed because her back was starting to hurt.

We talked abit about why they could heal those who had the bacteria but not her...and I reaffirmed to her that this is not a death sentence but rather a chronic disease that she will learn to live with.  A chronic disease that we can treat.  Like I told her, we would not be here if there was no hope. 

Thanks for the prayers, thoughts, hugs and help with everything every one is doing.  Question:  Does anyone drive to St. Louis, Kansas City or Tulsa on a regular basis?  I will be starting to commute back and forth between work and here starting next week until the end of the school year.  I'm not sure about days yet but if someone was already there, I would try to catch a ride instead of making Travis drive back and forth. 

Love you all,
Tammy