BACK IN THE HOSPITAL

I decide to call Dad just to say hello, like I usually do on a nearly daily basis.

Dad answers the phone in his usual chipper self with, "Hey Jenni!"

"Hey Dad," I answer back, "Whatcha doing?"  I ask him.

"Oh nothing, we're in the hospital right now in the emergency room."  He almost sounded like there was a laugh in his voice which confused me a little.

"We've been in here since 3am," it was now almost noon and my first thought was, why didn't you call me?

"What's going on, Dad?"

"Well, Mom was complaining of some severe pains in her stomach and so I rushed her to the hospital.  We were in the waiting room for 7 hours and they finally got her in to see her.  They did a CT scan on her stomach to see if there is any blockage at all and so we're just waiting for the results to come back for now." Dad said.

"How is Mom doing?"

"She's doing fine, actually,"  I could hear Mom in the background chattering with the nurses and all.

"They are really busy here at the hospital," Dad continued.  "They don't have any room for Mom, so she is in a bed in the hallway right now.  We're actually getting very good care here."

"In the hallway?"  I asked sounded very concerned.  The movie "Ghost" came to mind of the scene where Patrick Swayze's character was left in the hallway to be tended with later.  People scampering everywhere not paying much mind to the patients taking up room, making the already narrow hall more difficult to walk through.

"So, does it look like they are going to admit her at all?"  I asked.

"I'm not sure at all," Dad says.  "We're still waiting for the doctor to read the scan."

We spoke for a little while on the phone until Dad had to hang up since the doctor was returning to Moms bedside.

I called my sister, Annie and asked if she knew anything about the situation.  She did, which again kind of surprised me.  Why didn't Dad call me?  But that was not going to be a concern of mine at this time since thoughts like that were petty compared to Mom's situation.  So, I quickly dashed any thoughts of questioning Dad later about it.

Later in the day, Dad did call me back and told me that Mom finally has her own room.  She has been admitted because they want to keep her for observation. 

What was to be an overnight stay, turned out to be a very long 4-day stay. 

"Jenni?"  Mom got on the phone one of the times that I had called.

"Mom, how are you?"  I ask hoping that the sound of my voice didn't seem too shocking.

"Oh, I'm okay, honey.  Thank you so much for your support and concern." Mom explained to me of how she has not been able to have a bowel movement for the past week.  She also told me that she had spoken to her regular doctor about her pains last week, but that her doctor didn't really listen that well to her at all.

Mom assured me that there is no real concern at all, just that she is under excellent care right now and that she should be home soon again.

The next day, I had asked Dad if he stayed in the hospital with Mom or went home to get some rest.

"Oh, I tried to sleep," he said.  "I went home and slept in the recliner until about 3am, then finally crawled in to bed, but I can't sleep at all.  I want to take her home with me.  I don't like this at all."

"I know, Dad, but she is being taken care of and she'll be home soon." I tried to reassure him.

A couple of days later and several updates later, I found out that Mom had to get 3 units of blood because she was so anemic.  Again, I was reassured that she is fine and that she should be going home later this afternoon.

The journey continues as Mom fights her cancer and getting used to her new life in the wheelchair as well as dealing with her health going on a roller-coaster ride.  But, in the end, Mom is a trooper.  She's strong and has a willing drive to keep going.  I love you Mom.  You are such an inspiration to me and the family.