Here’s a brief personal note for those of you who have I have come, over the past year or so, to think of as my long-distance friends.
As some of you may know, I am possessed of an elderly mother in frail physical health. She has been managing to live alone in her own house, with assistance from family and drop-in Home Care services, though it was becoming apparent to all of us that this was an increasingly precarious situation.
A week ago Thursday Mom had an early morning tumble. She was unable to get up, and, having struck her head when she landed, somehow did not collect herself enough to make the attempt to push her LifeLine call button which she wears 24/7 for just such a situation. She was on the floor a good five hours before we twigged that there was something wrong – when she missed her regular morning check-in call to me – and by the time we found her she had lost a lot of blood and was hypothermic.
She was ambulanced in to the hospital, warmed up and stitched up and rehydrated and given several units of blood; luckily nothing was broken, though she was very sore and bruised all over. She was coming along reasonably well – sitting up in bed, complaining mildly about the hospital food, and zipping through a book a day, and we were looking into convalescent arrangements for her, when she (not unexpectedly – she’s been rather crackly in the lungs even before her fall) developed pneumonia. She’s now on a course of antibiotics which seems to be helping limit the progression of her infection, but she’s very tired, has no appetite, and is generally not looking very chipper at all. She’s still reading a bit, which is a good sign, but her progress is now just a few pages per day.
Needless to say we are all feeling a bit helpless; we’re at “wait it out” stage right now, to see which way things go. Mom’s had a previous serious bout of pneumonia, but she rallied from that after being given up on by her doctor, so we’re hoping she’ll tough this one out, too. But, realistically, she just might not.
She’s fairly comfortable, has great care in the hospital, and we’re trying to get into a new routine of balancing time at the hospital with the relentless progression of summer jobs on the farm. I am doing a lot of sitting around waiting, and am finding that there is definitely some reading time – blessed books, what a good escape from our worldly woes! – but somehow the focus on writing for the blog is harder to attain.
I have a whole slew of posts started; these will be appearing as I’m able to get them finished off; I do have bits of quiet time here and there and focussing on talking about books is a refreshing change of pace, all things considered.
So that’s where I’m at right now. Things could change at a moment’s notice if Mom has a sudden downturn, or it could be one of those long, prolonged, everything-in-limbo situations. So this post is all I’ll say (at least for now) about the situation; my book posts will likely not reflect much of this, though it will of course be constantly there in my thoughts!
It had looked like this summer would be quiet and uneventful, but life changes in a moment sometimes, setting all of our trivial human plans awry…
Leaves & Pages 
Hang in there. I wish for a ton of support for you and your family for the coming time of pulling it all together. And clearly, your mom has you.
Take care.
Thank you for the so-kind words. Such a topsy-turvy last few weeks! And of course poor Mom has it the worst, too. When the doctor was in to check on her yesterday she did one of those little verbal assessments – “Where are you?”, “When were you born?”, “What year is it?” … Mom passed with flying colours except for the day of the week question. She sat there for ages – you could SEE her desperately thinking – then she took a completely wild guess which was completely wrong. I laughed and told the doctor to scratch that one – none of us are quite sure what day of the week it is right now! 🙂
Sending loads of good thoughts to you and your family. Hospital stays are no fun for anybody — I hope y’all are able to find time for everyone to get breaks sometimes and have ice cream. (My family has always found ice cream breaks to be crucial for hospital-sitting family members.) Be well.
Thank you so much, Jenny. Ice cream breaks, mmm, must incorporate those!
Barb, I’m so sorry to hear this – I’m also sending good thoughts your way. It can be so hard caring for aging parents. I do hope books and bookish chat will provide some distraction or comfort, as the case may be. Georgette Heyer is good for both!
Thank you, Lisa. Yes, this is nothing we didn’t (sort of) see coming, though of course one always hopes not to have to face it. Mom was feeling well enough to read again yesterday. She was finding it hard to concentrate on anything too complex so I gave her a copy of E. Nesbit’s Railway Children, and she dove right in. 🙂 I think I will try her on Heyer (hey – that rhymes!) today – I do have a few paperbacks here. (She’s unable to hold a hardcover – too heavy & bulky.)
I’ll be thinking of you, Barb.
Thank you, Claire. Your kind words are greatly appreciated.
I’m very sorry to hear this, and I hope your mother rallies again.
Thank you for the good wishes, Patience.