The Last Week

Hi friends. I took the last week off posting Keep & Delete, focusing on family instead, and it’s been a whirlwind of a few days.

Long story short: My mom fell at work and broke her hip on Tuesday. We immediately went to her office (thank goodness we only live a few miles away) to help, and by the time we got there, the ambulance already had her in a stretcher. She couldn’t walk and was in excruciating pain. She has never broken a bone in her life, and falling and breaking her hip bone was always one of her biggest fears.

We followed her to the hospital and they got her in and gave her pain meds right away, so PJ and the kids and I all went home for the time being. I got a call a few hours later from my mom saying she had been admitted, talked to the doctor, and they would be doing surgery on her the next day. I went to visit her that night and brought her a few things and my heart broke. Seeing her in so much pain, laying there in the hospital bed all alone with nurses who weren’t very caring or nice, is something I hope I never have to see again.

Surgery went well. Over the next few days I stayed with her overnight (at PJ’s suggestion, and I am so glad he mentioned it because I wasn’t sure if that was something I could even do- we’ve never had a family member stay overnight in the hospital for an injury before!) and made sure she was okay. She was up in recovery after surgery, but the nurses, sadly, weren’t much better up there. I didn’t trust the staff with my mom to let her be there alone, so I stayed there as much as possible, making sure she had what she wanted and getting help when she needed it.

Even though the circumstances weren’t great, having that one on one time with my mom was so lovely. We haven’t spent time together like that in years. We listened to music and meditation albums together, we ordered pizza and ate it in the hospital bed while watching Forensic Files. We made lists of oxymorons like awfully good and deafening silence. And in a weird way, I had a lot of fun with her. She spent all those years taking care of me and I was on the other side of it. She’s a fiercely independent person who hates being taken care of or feeling like she is a burden to anyone, but she needs help right now, and we all came together to give it to her.

And then finally, after three long days that felt like months, she was transferred on Friday to an inpatient rehab facility where she has been doing physical therapy a few times a day. This place is much nicer and the staff is much friendlier, and we are all happy she’s there (including her).

She will be at this facility for the next few weeks, and at that time she can go back home to finish up recovery. She can’t walk right now, which is scary, but hopefully by the time she is finished with her physical therapy things will be easier for her. I just hate how much pain she’s in right now. It kills me to see her wince when trying to move or yell out because the pain is unbearable, all while feeling helpless. But I have learned throughout this whole ordeal, just being there for someone who is in pain is helping, in a small way.

We’re still figuring out where she will go when she is released from physical therapy. We have all offered our homes to her and I love the idea of her recovering at our house and being able to help her get better, but I also know three kids running around might not be the best environment. The issue is, her bedroom at her cottage is on the second floor, and there is no way she can climb stairs right now, so it’s either our house, my brother’s, or even some of her friends have offered her to stay there to help her recover. So sweet!

That’s what has been consuming pretty much our entire lives this week, leaving what feels like little room for anything else. It’s been a lot, but it seems like she’s finally in a place where she can get better the right way. She’s 45 minutes away now instead of a mile down the road, so I haven’t been to the new facility to see her yet. That will be this coming week.

2024 has been a challenging year for our family so far, so I am hoping it’s only downhill from here!