We Have Accomplished the Near Impossible!

Yes, we have finally gotten Mom to agree to schedule her procedures!

Since Mom is on coumadin and will have to go off the drug prior to the pacemaker procedure, she is also having a tooth extracted the day before so that she does not have to go off coumadin twice. Apparently, this would increase the odds that she'd develop a blood clot. Therefore, we are avoiding that option.

Mom is having her tooth extracted on Monday, August 23rd at 9am. She is then having her pacemaker procedure on Tuesday, August 24th at 8am. Barring any unforeseen circumstances, Mom will spend 8/24 in the hospital and come home the following day on 8/25.

I'm crossing my fingers that she will be full-steam-ahead and will want to go to Bingo on Friday 8/27. She'll have loads to tell her friends!

I think that Mom is relieved to finally have this scheduled and settled. I don't think she was quite ready to commit to the procedure when Dr. T first suggested it to her. Now that she has had time to digest the news and prepare herself, she is willing to get it done. I just know that she is going to have so much more energy and stamina once the pacemaker is in place. She will not have to worry about her low heart rate and can go about her business. It must be stressful to have to plan out activities based on whether your heart can "take it" or not. Shortly, that stress will be relieved!

I'm really glad that Mom has committed to getting the pacemaker. As we prepare for these procedures, I will continue to post details. Once again, please keep Mom in your prayers asking God to get her safely through the procedures.

Throwing Away the Past

Chicago had some incredible rain totals a couple of days in a row. Unfortunately, the sewer systems couldn't handle the amount of rain that accumulated so quickly and many basements and backyards flooded in both the city and suburbs. The basement in Mom's house took in about a foot of water and her backyard (and my tomatoes!) were underwater for a day. Luckily, the water in our basement receded fairly quickly. However, there is still a massive clean-up to undertake.

Mom is a saver. She keeps mementos from our childhood, family vacations, weddings, graduations, etc. She also keeps clothing. Her reasoning for keeping clothing is that she will have a garage sale someday. So far, that hasn't happened. My point? We have lots of boxes stored in the basement.

The majority of the boxes that are stored are kept off the ground. We have flooded in the past, so we've learned to keep most items on shelves, etc. However, when I returned to Chicago, I added a dozen or so boxes to the storage. Shelving was at a premium, so some boxes ended up near the ground. Still on shelves, but on the bottom shelves. Bummer.

The good news is that the majority of the water was in the back of the basement (near the front of the house) and we had most of the boxes above the water line. However, we have some furniture back there (recliners, mainly)and those got wet. The room that housed my boxes got about 6 inches of water, but that was enough to saturate the boxes on the bottom shelves. I lost some incredible cookbooks, some awesome mementos from past adventures, and some reading material/papers from my MBA program. That was thrown out immediately. End of story for me. Discard and move on.

Mom had a more difficult time throwing her ruined items away. She wanted to look at each item before discarding it. Each piece of paper. Each card. Each magazine. Each church bulletin. Yes, she saves some strange things (in my opinion). Most items were things that she could eventually throw away. She enjoyed reading the notes from family members that she had saved. I guess it was a way to relive that relationship or experience. She took longer than I did to discard all her ruined items, but we both got to the same place eventually. I guess that's what really matters.

Still Procrastinating...

Well, Mom is still procrastinating about setting a date for getting a pacemaker. Yes, still. A and I have talked to Mom about this and have encouraged her to choose a date and let us call to schedule the procedures. However, she is still "waffling".

For the past week or so, we have both heard how her pulse rate is up in the 50's now, so there is no need for the pacemaker. We have let Mom "waffle" since we do not want to force her to get a pacemaker unless she wants one. We have encouraged her to talk to people she knows who have a pacemaker. Everyone she talks to has told her that they IMMEDIATELY felt better. Still, she hesitates.

The good news is that Mom is concerned that if she doesn't schedule the procedure soon, she will "mess up" with Doctor T. Her words. I think Mom realizes that she has procrastinated as long as she can and must now choose to get the procedure... or not.

I am still hopeful that she will make the choice to have the pacemaker. We should have an answer by next week. Fingers crossed!

My Mother, the Worrier.

My Mother worries about everything. Sometimes, she focuses her worrying on herself. I have posted previously about my Mother worrying about herself, specifically, when she worries about her low pulse rate. When she worries about her pulse, she takes her pulse several times during the day and really focuses on it. She can get rather morose when she does this.

At other times, like now, Mom worries about others, usually family members. It could be a family member's health issues that worry her. Or maybe a family member is having troubles with their spouse/kids. Or financial issues. Whatever the worry is, Mom internalizes it and worries about it like it is her own trouble. It may even affect her physically. This is taking empathy to a whole new level... perhaps to an art form!

Mom is currently worried about a family member. Actually, she is most likely worried about a couple of family members. She is REALLY worried. And it's affecting her greatly. She cannot eat. She doesn't want to talk to anyone and is avoiding the phone. Because she doesn't want to talk, she not socializing. She is even "avoiding" Gilmart! My final clue that Mom is truly worried is that she has lost interest in the lottery. This is a big deal! She doesn't want any scratcher tickets. She is not interested in getting Pick 3 and Pick 4 tickets. She is barely even taking the time to watch the live lottery drawings on TV.

As always, things will work out one way or another. They usually do whether we worry about them or not. I'm not sure what Mom's worrying is supposed to accomplish. But that is just the way she is. She is a worrier. She is like a dog with a bone with this "worrying thing" and it's starting to affect her health. I hope it comes to an end soon... especially since she is using this to postpone her tooth extraction and pacemaker procedure.

Any suggestions to help her through the worrying?

Am I Creating A Monster???

I must be doing a good job of making Mom feel secure. When I'm around, she seems to be pretty steady, has the ability to do things on her own, takes some initiative, etc. However, remove me from the mix, and she appears to flounder. Am I giving her too much opportunity to be dependent on me?

I spent a couple of night away from home recently. Mom called me 3 times per day. Just to chat. Not because she felt ill or needed my help. Just because she wanted to talk to someone. I think it might be because she's now used to having someone in her house. It's not all that easy to be alone once you've shared a home with someone, apparently. It's kind of cute. However, not always.

I usually call Mom first thing in the morning (well, HER first thing in the morning!) to hear how she is feeling. She seems to like this and again, I think it makes her feel secure. So, the one day that I did not call her, she calls me and the first words out of her mouth are "Why didn't you call me this morning? Don't you care if I lived or died last night?"

ASIDE ONLY: What? Are you kidding me? Of course I care whether she lives or dies. Why would I be doing all that I am doing if I didn't care? UGH

But did I say any of that to Mom? Of course not! I just told her that things got hectic and that I intended to call her shortly, but she called first. I guess she really does enjoy the security I provide.

I hope I'm not creating a monster. Am I?

My Mom is "Skewed"!

I've mentioned previously that my Mom has been complaining about her arm lately. Her arm hurts. Her arm is losing strength. Her arm can't move in a certain direction. Because of this, Mom often needs help buckling her seatbelt or carrying groceries... or even carrying her purse.

Now, we've come to a new threshold: Mom needs help getting dressed.

At first, it was just her bra. Because her arm can't move in certain positions, Mom had a hard time getting her bra hooked and turned around. Ladies, you know the "struggle" I'm talking about! I could understand that. It's something that has to be done, so what can I do?

Now, it's her pants. I have noticed lately that Mom's pants are "skewed". What I mean by skewed is that her seams don't line up. Especially the back seam. It's a strange thing to walk behind your Mother and see that her pants are not on straight. It's even stranger (and really funny, actually!) to understand that her seams aren't straight because she had trouble pulling her pants on.

Mom will not ask for help with her pants. However, she has told me that if I notice that she is "skewed", I should let her know. Sometimes, it's just easier to act. LOL

Surprise Visit!

I love surprises (when they don't have to do with work-related things). And yesterday, we received a surprise visit from my cousin Dave and his wife Bianka from Houston. It was so wonderful to see them!!! I didn't know that they were on vacation and driving around the Midwest visiting relatives, so when they rang the doorbell last night, it was unexpected. But that doesn't mean it was bad. We love them dearly and they are welcome at our home at any time. :-)

They had stopped at Gilmart before visiting us. I'm sensing a trend here. Anyone who visits us gets hooked on Gilmart and their European-style offering. You just can't beat the food there!

We had a wonderful visit. They got to chat with Mom and ask about her upcoming pacemaker procedure. It was nice that they spent time with her. I enjoy seeing how excited she gets when we have visitors. Mom's just so cute at times.

Speaking of pacemaker procedures, we haven't scheduled it yet, but are leaning towards Tuesday, August 3rd. Tooth pulled on Monday, August 2nd. I'll let you know once it's firm.

Bianka and I got to chatting about photos. Dave is a "documenting fool" when it comes to photos. I've always admired that. He takes lots of family photos during vacation and often shares in Christmas or birthday cards. It's a great way to stay connected when miles apart. I now really understand the importance of photos and staying connected. You never know when your current visit will be your last. Plus, the photo helps you to remember the feelings/love/circumstances of the event. I love photos!

Here's one from last night's visit. Enjoy!

We Have Triumphed!

Just got back from a visit to Mom's cardiologist... and here it is... the big news... he has finally convinced her to get a pacemaker!!!

There was definitely still some reluctance on Mom's part. But Dr. T. got the job done in the end and convinced her that a pacemaker was the way to go. I'm really glad because I think she'll have more energy and she'll be less worried about her pulse rate as it will not be in the 30s anymore!

There is only one small "complication". Mom must have a tooth extracted and since she is currently on coumadin, she will have to go off her meds to have the tooth extracted. Dr. T has recommended that Mom have that procedure done first and then a DAY LATER have the pacemaker put in. I know that Mom was thinking that she would have weeks in between the two procedures, but apparently it is not good to take her off coumadin, put her back on, take her off again, and then put her back on again. Something about her more likely to throw a clot with all that messing around.

I was supposed to call the dentist when we got home to see when he was available to do the tooth extraction so that we could schedule the pacemaker procedure based on Dr. T's calendar. However, Mom would not let me call the dentist today. I really don't know why. But I think she needs a day to absorb all this. I am hoping that the dentist is not taking a long weekend and will be in his office tomorrow. Otherwise, I'll have to wait until Tuesday to call. Mom is a procrastinator at heart... I can see where those tendencies of mine come from. Well, I won't let her wait much longer. I will get this scheduled and then let her have time to think about it while she is waiting for the surgery.

Speaking of surgery, the pacemaker procedure will take place with general anesthesia. It's a 2 hour procedure and Dr. T himself will perform it. That makes me happy. I don't want one of his Fellows to do this procedure. Mom will have to spend the night in the hospital afterwards to ensure that all goes well. I'm sure that it will.

I'll keep you posted as to when we schedule all of this. Please start praying that all goes well!