Well, this weekend was pretty boring, so I'll write about a different one. Three weeks ago.
A cousin of mine was getting married, so I drove into town on Friday night. I got a late start, so I drove straight to where everyone was having dinner. And by "everyone," I mean Mom, Aunt L, her husband, her daughter, and her daughter's boyfriend.
Luckily, Aunt L was at the other end of the table, so I wasn't forced into conversation with her. I just sat back and listened to her contradict everything that anyone else had to say. At one point, I asked her husband, who was sitting across the table from me, what time they had flown into town. He told me that they arrived at 11am, but had to wake up at 3am to catch their flight.
Then, from the other end of the table, came, "Nooooooooo, G! (Yes, AL really does talk like the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.) We didn't get in at 3am, we got in at 11!")
*sigh*
When I mentioned that they woke up an hour after I went to bed, someone asked me what I was doing up so late.
"Pulling the hair out of my legs."
Then, from the other end of the table, "Nooooooooo, Frank! Don't be so vain!"
I just had to laugh, as this is the woman who's had a facelift, I don't know how many chemical peels, and paid for her daughter's facelift. Said daughter tried to come to my defense by talking about how "cyclists shave their legs for aerodynamics and stuff."
"No," I told her (quietly so that it couldn't be heard at the other end of the table), "I shave them because it looks better."
:-D
Aunt L started going into how she didn't like her worthless son's girlfriend (the girlfriend is not worthless). "She's over 40 years old, and never been married!" she complained. Mom was kind enough to point out that I, too, am over 40 and forever single. Good ol' Mom!
"Nooooooooo," Aunt L said, "Except for that last one, all of the women that Frank has dated have been married before."
Actually, including "that last one," only two of the women I've had relationships with had been previously married, but that wasn't the problem with her logic.
Finally, dinner was over, and we went home. Cousin mentioned that Mom had been walking a bit unsteadily all week, so I should keep an eye on her.
At Mom's house, she was coughing a bit and complaining about her breathing. I asked her if she wanted me to take her to the after-hours clinic, but she said no, and got into bed to read. I was in the other room, watching TV, and could hear her rasping breath and coughing. Eventually, she called me in, as she had just thrown up.
I took her to ER.
She got in pretty quickly, considering that it was around midnight on a Friday, and it turned out that she had pneumonia. She was in the hospital for a week, and was released the following Friday, but I had to be back in Austin to volunteer for the LIVESTRONG Challenge. They sent her home with a walker, since she was still a bit wobbly.
Fast-forward to a week ago last Wednesday, when I went back to Mom's to hang out with her for a bit to help out. When I walked in, her walker was in the kitchen, and she was in her bedroom. She had been getting around pretty well without it.
Thursday, Mom told me that she had fallen that morning, and banged her head on the bathtub. The brother-in-law of a friend of mine had just been in the hospital with a subdural hematoma, so I wanted to keep an eye on her for the day. She seemed to be doing ok, even walking next door (with the walker) to have lunch with my cousin.
Mom came home to take a nap, and when I was talking to her, I noticed that her left arm was just kind of hanging out in space, and pointed it out to her. She just shrugged it off, and went on to take her nap.
A couple of hours later, the lady that Mom had cleaning her house came in to get me, as Mom had fallen when she tried to get out of bed. I tried to get her up, but she just wanted to sit there for awhile. As she was teary-eyed, I got a kleenex for her, and handed it out. She grabbed at it with her left hand, missed it, but dabbed her eyes with her empty hand.
I took her to ER.
Luckily, my cousin had a wheel chair at her house, because Mom could not walk at all.
Thursday afternoons in the ER are even less crowded than Friday nights, and Mom got put right into triage. A CAT scan showed no hematoma, which was good, but an MRI showed two minor strokes, one to her right cerebrum, affecting her left arm, and the other in her cerebellum, affecting her balance. An EKG showed that she was experiencing atrial flutter, which the doctor said was probably what produced the clots that caused her strokes.
Mom showed great day-by-day improvement the next few days, and is now in a rehab center, where she's still showing great improvement. She was walking walkerless on Friday. I'm back in Austin, do take care of some things, and my sister went to stay with Mom for a week. I'll go back next week.
Aunt L flies back into town on Wednesday, and is talking about staying through the end of the year.
*sigh*
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9 comments:
Frank! Oh I'm so sorry your mom has been having trouble. Good thoughts and warm wishes to you both. Its so hard to take care of adult parents...
And Aunt L? Oh my my my....what a hoot! I appreciate that you like your legs hairless...its very masculine. Did all your formerly-married girlfriends tell you about that trick?
Frank, you made me laugh with this post. Sometimes a boring weekend is preferable to having one like the one you wrote about, I think.
Aunt L sounds like quite a trip. I think everyone has a least one slightly warped relative to contend with. There are definitely a few nuts in my family tree (In addition to me, I mean! HA! :D ), but I don't see them often, which seems to be a good thing.
I'm so sorry to hear about your Mom. I know what you are going through. My mom had several mini strokes about a year ago, but they weren't detected until several months after the fact when they suddenly seemed to have a sort of cumulative effect on her. She also had problems with her balance and with the function of her arm and leg on the left side, as well as, speech and communication troubles.
Rehab, unfortunately, hasn't helped her regain her ability to walk, and she is now in a wheelchair and in a nursing home. The speech therapy did help her though. She still has problems talking sometimes, but she is doing better than she was.
I'm glad to hear the rehab is helping your Mom. They can do a great deal more to help stroke patients now than they used to. It sounds like hers was diagnosed quickly too,unlike my Mom.
Prayers going up here from me for your mom and for you and the rest of your family in hopes that her condition will continue to improve. Hugs to you.
Frank I am sorry about your mom and even more sorry that you have to deal with Aunt L.
Frank, I'm so sorry to hear about your mom! How scary for you both. I'm so glad she has you to look after her, though. You're a good egg.
Ugh, Aunt L would drive me INSANE!
One last thing -- do you really shave your legs? :D No judgment!
I'm sorry to hear that your Mom has had some hard times as of late. I agree with Bev, you are a wonderful son. I hope in my later days, my children prove to be as resourceful as you.
Aunt L? *shudder*
Thanks for the good thoughts, y'all.
Mary, it was one of my (male) cycling friends who convinced me to shave. I never went for any of the common "reasons" that cyclists shave:
1. To make it easier to clean out road rash - Um, I'll just try harder to not crash
2. To make it easier to massage - I don't get massages.
John convinced me to do it "for the ritual of the sport." I'd really wanted to do it for a while, and he gave me the "reasoning" to do so.
Not much feels better than freshly laundered sheets on freshly shaved legs, I tell ya.
Now, though, I use an epilator to pull the hairs out. It hurts like the dickens, but it lasts much longer, and I can do it while watching the TV, rather than in the shower.
Sorry to hear about your mom, Daisy. Luckily, Mom's had no speech problem. The speech therapist came to visit her in the hospital, and decided that there was no reason for her to go back.
Here's another Aunt L story for yas:
For Thanksgiving, a few years ago, Mom said that she'd make the yam casserole. Aunt L told her to be sure to use fresh yams, and not canned yams, like she usually does. Mom did the sensible thing and said, "Ok" while ignoring the helpful advice and opened up a couple of cans.
I knew about this, so while we were eating dinner, I complimented Mom on the her casserole. "See?" exclaimed Aunt L, "They're better when you use fresh yams!"
:-D
Frank, the only guy I knew who shaved his legs was in water polo, and all the girls - including me - thought he was a stud.
Glad your mom is doing better.
Frank, I'm so sorry to hear about your mom! Such a good thing you were there to help her and were so attentive to what was going on. My mom has MS and some serious balance issues. The few times I've seen her fall I just feel awful for her, because she feels so embarrassed and helpless. Here's hoping her recovery continues to go well! Aunt L sounds like a real gem to hang out with.
Frank,
I am sorry to hear you mom has had a rough go of it! What a wonderful son you are! I can only hope that Bubba will be as attentive to me! Actually, I will settle for at least one of my four kids being that way LOL
I am glad to hear she is doing better. Lots of good thoughts and prayers that the progress continues!
I wondered why you haven't been doing much on Mafia Wars. Now, I know you have been spending all your time shaving your legs in front of the TV! ;)
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