Saturday, April 30, 2011

Today's Thoughts

This morning, my mind swims with thoughts....nothing terribly cohesive, I'm afraid.

Utmost in my mind, of course, is my daughter, who remains in the hospital at the moment, following her surgery on Thursday.  Apparently, the appendix was quite seriously infected. Amy said that the medical people called in 'gangrenous'. Doesn't sound good, as it means 'gangreen'.  So...they want her to stay until they get a good hold on that infection.  I hope she'll take her meds faithfully to the end once she gets home.

She's so ready to be there in her own bed, in order to get some sleep. She's so tired!  I have asked her if she wants me to come up there (9 states away) to help her as she recovers. She assures me that she's got a good number of friends at the ready to stay through the day and be there at night, too, if needed. Since she's a single Mom of a young teen and preteen, there are driving needs to be taken care of, not to mention laundry and meals and other household chores.  I could be of help, and feel a little 'unneeded' as she tells me, "No, Mommy...stay home and plant pretty gardens." She added a smile and told me she loved me.   

I know she's got an army of wonderful friends surrounding her, as well as her younger sister/best friend.  I don't know what any of us would do without knowing that Meg is there and in control of it all. As my youngest, she could be a spoiled baby-type, even at the age of 35 yrs, but she's not. She's a strong, independent woman who can take charge when the need arises, and she did in this matter.  I'm proud of her... and of Amy too.

There are so many characters in this play, I just realized. Amy, the lead star, Megan, her supporting actress, not to mention the youngsters. The older daughter, Kimberly, was there at the start of this illness, and she took charge of things herself. She told her mother to go to bed and that she'd get her younger sister into bed at the right time, so she would get up on time for school.  Later that evening, she took her Mom's temperature, and seeing the continued pain, told her mother that she was going to the emergency room, and immediately made a call to their friend, a former EMT. From there, Megan arranged someone to stay with the girls, while she took Amy to the hospital. The rest is history previously  told.

It's hard to live so far from family in a 'crisis', but this mother knows that things are well in hand back home.  I know that there is no point in worrying when you are not able to do anything to help from such a distance.  So, I stand ready to make the roadtrip north, should anyone decide that I'm wanted there.  I wanted to go anyway, but sometimes too many people cause more confusion.  So, I wait, keeping a phone close by at all times, to hear the 'breaking news' as it happens.

Before long Amy will be healed enough to be on her own again, and back to work soon after. Days will return to normal and this will all fade into the background of memories.  Meanwhile, it appears that things are going well and  being dealt with as they arise, and I can be just an audience in this production. I applaud all of those involved for their performances: Mother, sister, daughters, friends, doctors, nurses, and all others involved. They're all doing a fine job!