From Elise's Mom

Ya know.... sometimes you look to your children for encouragement....for strength....for leadership. Ours have given us that and much, much more, especially during the last few weeks.

Elise texted me a couple of days ago so she could add to the blog. Told her I went to Target with Grandma and Karlee and ran into two wonderful women I knew from the Stake. The love and excitement about did my heart in, especially as one of them whispered to her young son, "This is the Lady we've been praying for." And then he was fascinated.

Elise is always on top of things (as are her children, on top of "things"; new ideas, experiments and "what happens if we...?").

And when she hadn't posted to her blog for a few days, I'm thinking, she's taking a well-deserved break or out with their Carlsbad, NM friends they love so much. After all....I really do know that "it isn't all about me!"

Got a call this afternoon from her for her physician father. She has a 105.6 fever. Has for a few days. She didn't want to worry me. Another unselfish action. Last time she had a fever that high it accompanied seizures. She was checked into the University of Virginia Hospital and EKG tested and told not to let her get a fever that high again.

So hear I sit....seven hours away....praying she goes to the hospital.....praying Weston will take a bottle for the first time from someone who loves him.....praying the girls will put their experiments and new ideas on hold until their mom gets better.

Why does the heart get so involved in all the affections of the family?  As Brittany would say,  "AUGH!!!!!"

Bummer dude.

This little guy is four and a half months old. He is scooting. Practically army crawling. I should be happy, elated, proud even.

Wanna know how I feel?

Seriously bummed.

I know how fast my kids grow. I know how quickly they walk, talk, learn, leave my house.

He doesn't have to rub it in.

Also: can someone please explain to me why my girls are fascinated by pouring a full container of liquid soap down the drain? I am baffled. And totally annoyed.

Hanging in there.

That's what mom will say if you call and ask how she's doing.

Catch up.

A week away from home means catch up. Catch up on bills, on housework, on actual work... I had a lot of stuff to do when I got home.

Usually when I am in a crunch like this, I turn on the TV and let my children watch Backyardigans and Sesame Street for. hours. And I end the day feeling ashamed for creating zombie children without social skills. So I thought I would be fun mom for a change and bring out the painting easel my mom got the girls for Christmas. It started well. I typed on my laptop and uttered oohs and ahs at the appropriate moments.



As I'm sure you know already, it did not end well. I started to zone into my work. And zone out from my kids. And let me just thank Melissa and Doug for washable paint. Because it ended up all over the walls and the door frames, and our stark white kitchen vanity.

The rest of the day didn't go that much better. Bonnie and Clyde over here kept themselves busy.

• They played "ocean" in their swimsuits. This game consisted of fleeing from a man-eating shark. It resulted in noisy, screaming sprints up and down the hall.
• The younger one whacked the older one on the nose with a closet rod. That resulted in a bloody nose and a clean off in the shower. Conveniently she was already in a bathing suit. I should note that the hitting was an accident. I believe it was part of some rowing in a boat charade.
• They used a loaf of bread to pretend they were flipping pancakes.
• They painted with nail polish on the wall.
• And while I was totally immersed in the computer screen, they snipped off a generous lock of my hair. I don't know how that happens.

And you wonder why I had to leave my mom.

Another good reason for a resident doctor.

My mom is still practically passing out every time she stands up. But she can stand. And that is progress.

In other news, her doctor prescribed her a medication. Well, he prescribed several. But the thing about this one is that our friends at the pharmacy substituted it for another medication they had handy. Problem with this substitution is that it strips the body of potassium. (You know--one of those electrolyte elements that contributed to the heart stopping problem in the first place.) Yeah. Not cool. Dad had a nice chat with them, adding, "an error like this could've killed her."

Yikes.

Not. Again.

Mom is home. I am relieved. It's always nicer to sleep in your own bed no matter how wonderful the nurses and food are at the five star Baylor Heart Center.

Unfortunately, about five minutes ago, we got this text from dad:

We are home. What a relief. But we've already had a yellow flag. Mom, Gma, and I were sitting in the family room watching TV. Mom said she had to go to the bathroom, so she got up and left. A couple seconds later, we heard a sickening thump. I jumped off the couch and found her in the hall, by the blanket closet, coming back to consciousness. She had a full on, board certified syncopal episode. She got a big goose egg on her head. I immediately put her on the telemetry unit bro Dalebout set up. No changes. She just passed out from the same orthostatic mechanism that she has always had. Thank goodness for the EKG. If we hadn't had that, we might be loading her into an ambulance right now.   We were all seduced into complacency because of the comfort of being home. We have to remember she is still really an ICU patient.  I gave her a rule to count to ten each time she changes from lying to sitting or from sitting to standing. 

Seriously. The woman is begging to go back to the hospital. Sheesh.

Dad continues...

You guys will never know how glad I am that so much help is around. Sister Scholl called to offer us Costco booty, since she was going, brothers Dalebout and Fry set up the EKG with telemetry and internet access last night, the house was spotless because of Gma and a bunch of ladies from the church here this morning and weekend. I could go on and on.  Bro Dalebout said something interesting that I could relate to. When someone falls ill, the church rallies, and "bubblewraps" the person, and there's nothing for most to do to help. So it's nice to have something to do, meaning the monitoring help. You guys can relate to that.

Anyway, mom is resting now. Nursing her goose egg. I'm really glad we are not sitting in an ER right now.  Also, we talked to Gpa, invited him down soon. He said probably. So we will hopefully have a visit from Gpa soon. Hope you guys are well. Talk to you all soon.

Thank you all so much for the help. We are grateful for the help from our church. And we are also so very grateful for the many many many of you who are not members of our church who are doing so very much to help and show your love. Your prayers and happy thoughts have worked miracles. And apparently we still need them. Prayers and happy thoughts that is. We are not begging for anything else!

Gracias. Danke. Tak. Xie xie.

It's impossible to express the depth of my gratitude for you people.

We have been blessed with
Food.
Babysitters.
Gifts.
Love notes.
Friendship.
Anonymous breakfasts on our doorstep.
Cleaners.
Chauffers.
Flowers.
Drinks stuffed with electrolytes.

It is hard to go to my home and leave my mom. It is hard to not be the one caring for her.

It would be harder if I weren't leaving her in such good hands.

Thank you to all you locals who have taken such good care of us. And thank you to you distant folks who have done the same. We are indebted.

She's coming home today.