Life Moment(s) For Mom And Brother

As my brother was a perfect groom for his perfect bride, my friends know that I'd love to be typing about their Lowcountry wedding. That said, given the series of events of the weekend, I feel the need to use this post as an update platform for our mom.

During the week leading up to Michael's wedding, our mom had been feeling ill. Naturally, everyone thought it was the dreaded "48 hour bug," combined with natural "nerves." Wow, were we wrong... big time.

During the wedding rehearsal, Mom (out of the sight of others) went down, and was wheeled into an ambulance. She was taken to Waccamaw Community Hospital (about 3 minutes away from what most of us know as Murrell's Inlet).

My wife, Jennifer, explains it like this on www.caringbridge.org/visit/fransingleton: "Fran has suffered an intestinal necrosis caused by a blocked artery. On Saturday morning, the doctors removed a large section (approximately 16 - 18 inches) of her intestine and performed an ostomy that they will try to reverse in the future. She is now in the highest level Critical Care Unit. She is very heavily sedated and on a number of medications via IV drip to help with her blood pressure, pain and infection. The doctors do not want her body to do anything but rest so she is also on a ventilator." Mom's body was septic, which was AWFUL to hear.

One of the dilemmas of this is logistics. Of course, in the scheme of things, logistics are in the back seat. This said, they still exist. Given mom's condition, she won't be leaving this facility for a good while and our family (based in Anderson, SC) is trying to adapt accordingly. Three family members are staying in Garden City, and went shopping today for casual clothing (we were only prepared for Michael's wedding). Tonight, Jennifer/Finley and I drove to Columbia so I could get my car, and tidy up a few loose ends on the job front.

I'd like to report that my brother acted as a familial champion this weekend. As he was a man before, he was a 'big man' during all of this. He put all of us on his shoulders, properly shielding fear from his happy bride-to-be and our sister, and was married in front of hundreds, with his head held high. "Mimi" (mom's mom) elegantly sat in the first pew in mom's stead. It was a sweet, heart tugging moment, to be sure.

I need to thank so many people for their support, assistance, and prayers. Hopefully, mom can come out of this as the vibrant person our friends know and love. As you can imagine, when we "turn the corner," this is going to be a long, hard recovery. Every ounce of support is exponentially appreciated.

I'll report as best I can, but the best source for information will probably be on CaringBridge.

Thank you, friends.