Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Tough But Positive Weekend For Mom

Moving From Room 473, To 231. Best News Yet.
For a few days after the night of Michael and Austin's wedding rehearsal, Mom was leaning over the threshold of death's door. Today, conversely, she was wheeled from Waccamaw's most urgent ICU room to a more relaxed room in the maternity wing of the hospital.

While I know she's not completely out of the woods, I'm ecstatic to report that she's a completely different person from a few days ago. Mom is alert (for the most part), and speaking in paragraphs at a time. Late this afternoon we took Finley to visit for a few minutes, which brought a whole new energy to the room.

I can't express through this keyboard how much our family appreciates the outpouring of support we've received throughout Mom's illness. The gift cards, plane rides, food, phone calls, emails, offers to babysit, Facebook posts, thoughts, and prayers have been a testament to friendships everywhere. The condos that have been made available to our family are an overwhelming gesture and are appreciated beyond recognition.

As Mom has slowly graduated from septic shock to baby steps (with help, of course), we hope she'll soon be able to endure an ambulance ride home to Anderson, SC. We're presently looking into the cost of such a ride. As great as Waccamaw Medical has been (saved her life), Mom's support center (family/friends) would exponentially expand if we can get her back to Anderson.

As wonderful as everyone has been I feel compelled to thank two people individually. As Mimi (my grandmother) is the undisputed matriarch of our family, my wife Jennifer and Mom's sister (aka "Boof") have been Mom's recovery queens. I'm proud to report that Jennifer's caring heart has assisted in this effort beyond the call of duty. She's visited Mom, as early and as late as visiting hours will allow, and kept everyone up to date via Facebook and CaringBridge. Moreover, "Boof" has served as our nerve center and management leader throughout this entire episode. She's been a perfect sister to Mom, and I'm not sure we'd be in our current state without Boof. Boof's MVP status during all of this is illustrated on the pic above, via moms whiteboard.

In sum, Mom is progressing. Given that her insides were poisoned, and that she has an open wound stretching from both sides of her navel, she seems to be healing as well as anyone could hope. She's gone from close to "0%", to 50/50, to "Your mom is one lucky woman."

In the coming days, I hope to be able to thank everyone individually. For now, however, I'm happy to type this broad stroke of Mom's progress.

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