NK - Tough Day -UPDATE! (Long)

[Vanessa Goins]

Once again, I appologize to anyone who receives multiple postings of
this letter.

Hi everyone, sorry it's taken me so long to report back.  Everything's
much better now.  I spent Monday night working with Mom to help her
get ready for her surgery on Tuesday, June 1st.  She couldn't eat
anything and had to drink a phenomenal amount of fluids to "flush" her
system out.  She also had to pack for the hospital. I helped her as
best I could but I'm afraid I was pretty much a zombie by that point. 
I'd come into room and have to stop and try to remember what it was I
was supposed to do next.  So I spent quite alot of time wandering
aimlessly from room to room.  Mom had asked me if I could go and get
her some apple juice to supplement all the fluid she had to take, I
mean-how much water can a person stand?  I wasn't sure if I would be
safe at the wheel, but an SCA friend, Anawyn came to my rescue and
brought some over and even took the time to have a nice little visit
with my Mom.  We got to bed very late, yet again, that night.  We got
up REAL early (much earlier than necessary) and got to the hospital
early.  I sat with her all through the pre-op preparations, until they
wheeled her back to the OR.  I hadn't eaten that much last night and
nothing that morning.  All I could think about was getting her to the
hospital on time, and without incident.  I had hoped that when my
sister showed up I could go run and get something to eat and then
maybe come back and go to sleep on the waiting room sofa.  Well my
sister DID show up; however, she told me, "Yes, go something to eat. 
Go home and take a nap!"  God Bless her!  I was VERY tired.  I had
napped for an hour.  Heather called to say that surgery went fine-she
too went home and took a nap.  She was also very tired.  She'd had
house guests all weekend, looked after the guest's kid, cooked three
meals a day, worked to finish the deck they had been building plus
taking her turn at hospital duty.  I got to see Mom at the hospital
that night.  She actually looked very good, but she also seemed rather
pitiful-all those tubes...She was pretty out of it as one might
expect, she had two tubes down her throat one to her stomach to
prevent acid hurting her stomach (She's to fed intravenously for
awhile.) and another tube going down to her colon.  Apparently a rich
oxygen environment will help it to heal.  They also had her on oxygen.
 Her throat was sore and she couldn't talk much.  I had planned to
report in sooner to everyone, but as soon as I knew Mom was going to
be fine It was like the wind went out of my sails.  I crashed-big
time!  Wednesday was supposed to be my first day of classes for summer
school but I was bad!  We played hookey!  It was the first full day
off Tim/Selwyn'd had off in ages.  We went to dinner and then went to
see the Phantom Menace.  It was a pleasant evening and a very badly
needed escape.  

Dad came home yesterday, Friday.  He's doing very well though he tires
easily.  We may be looking at a month or more before he's really
recoved.  I'm watching him like a hawk.  The doctor told me that if he
hadn't gotten in to the hospital and had surgery when he did, he might
not have made it.  She says that if he should fall down he will NOT be
getting back up by himself!  (think about it.  Could WE get up after
having had our abdominal muscles cut open?)  The surgeon said that it
was the WORST gall bladder he's ever seen.  I don't think that he's a
"rookie" either.  Dad has basically been suffering posioning from his
gall bladder for God only knows how long by nasty bacteria like E-Coli
and so forth.  His system has got to be pretty devasted from dealing
with that.  I'm afraid that visitors may come to see him soon and give
him a cold or something, I'm not sure his body could handle that. 
He's finally starting to eat better, so naturally, I'm relieved.  He's
been very easy to deal with-not cranky; and is following the doctor's
orders.  

I'm not sure when to expect Mom to be released.  My sister thinks
she'll be in there for a week or more.   She's feeling MUCH better now
that a doctor came in and looked at her tubes and said; "Hey, that
doesn't look right!"  It seems they had her tubes all twisted
up-inside her throat!  The doctor fixed it-Mom said that was the most
excrutiating pain she'd experienced in her life-but, now that it was
fixed she was starting to feel better.  No wonder she was so
miserable...  The Morphine they have her on is great, but it's causing
her to hallucinate (Dad says that he ALSO saw things that weren't
there.)  She pulled her tubes out last night which means they had to
put them back in again....Ow.  I'm hoping they'll take the tubes out
and let her eat soon.  The real test on us, especially ME.  Will be
when she comes home too.  We'll see how well we hold up then!  Keep us
in your thoughts and prayers.  I'm resting much easier now.
Still a little tired, but more relaxed, and hopeful :-)

-Belle
===
Vanessa Goins A.K.A SCA Ly. Isabela del bosque 
from the Barony of Northkeep, Ansteorra

Protégéé  to H.E. Master William Blackfox
 

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