Trying to Catch Up

@patgalca (18181)
Orangeville, Ontario
March 25, 2016 7:25pm CST
I am far behind on my computer work. On Wednesday I decided to go out and do some shopping. After I got home my sister called me and said my mother had a heart attack, then later perhaps two heart attacks. I spent that evening pacing, crying and worrying. I had the feeling that both my sisters and brother were there and I was feeling a little left out. I should have been there too. What if she had died? They would have been able to say good-bye but I wouldn't. Yesterday I went to visit my mother in the hospital. She is a feisty woman and doesn't want to be kept down. It was just me and my husband there for a couple of hours. Everything was going well until my sister arrived (my middle sister who works where my mother lives). She has been a health care worker for years and my mother immediately attempted to get out of bed and my sister got really bossy with her insisting she couldn't get out of bed. She had an oxygen tube in her nose that was connected to the wall plus she would get light headed standing up. My sister decided it was too much stimulation and we should all leave. After she and my husband left the room I tried a different tactic with my mother. I begged and pleaded with her to stay in bed, that I didn't want another phone call that she had another heart attack and be at home crying. Please, please, please, for me, I begged her. She relented. I told my sister when I went out in the hall but she said the dementia will kick in and she'll have forgotten everything I said. When we walked by the room I saw my mother reading the paper, as I had instructed her to do. Bossy sister isn't always right in her approach. My mother behaves differently with each of us remaining 4 kids. My two sisters are powers of attorney and always telling my mother what she can and can't do and my mother doesn't like that. I don't do that. I get bossed around by my sisters as well. (I have instructions to go visit her on Sunday). I am also the baby of the family. My mother always feels bad for me having grown up alone, etc., and she saw the pleading in my eyes and relented. Apparently when she had her heart attack she was putting up quite the fight with the doctors. She has scratches and scabs all over her. She started to pick at one when my sister was there and my sister yelled, "Don't pick!" My mother jumped back and hugged herself. It is not entirely my sister's fault. My mother's demeanor changed when my sister arrived, almost like she was a different person, this before a word was spoken. After my older sister left when we arrived, my mother told me she had been experiencing chest pains all morning and tightness. I asked her if she told anyone and she admitted that she hadn't. See? She only told me. I told the nurse who brought the machines in to check her out and ordered an anti inflammatory. I told my mother that she has to tell people. I told my middle sister when she arrived and she said, "Oh yes, Mom, you have to tell the nurse if you are feeling pain." Anyway, as restless as she is, I believe she is resting now and will make a full recovery as long as she doesn't push herself. She has had lots of visitors. But I've had trouble focusing the last couple of days and have gotten behind on my computer stuff.
2 people like this
2 responses
@MGjhaud (23171)
• Philippines
26 Mar 16
thank God your mother is ok. praying for her to be completely healed and be out of that bed. i hope too that everything will go back to normal for you. all the best..
1 person likes this
@patgalca (18181)
• Orangeville, Ontario
29 Mar 16
Unfortunately, with her dementia, she thinks there is nothing wrong with her and that she can get out of bed on her own. She thinks the hospital room is her home and that the man visiting his mother who is in the next bed is intruding on her space. She is still not able to walk on her own. She will be assessed tomorrow.
@MGjhaud (23171)
• Philippines
30 Mar 16
@patgalca poor momma of yours, i'll pray for her.
@patgalca (18181)
• Orangeville, Ontario
30 Mar 16
@MGjhaud Thank you.
@tammys85 (29952)
• Baltimore, Maryland
26 Mar 16
I'm glad she's okay, and I wish her a healthy recover! And don't worry about falling behind, there are some things that are more important. I hope you're doing okay.
1 person likes this
@patgalca (18181)
• Orangeville, Ontario
26 Mar 16
I'm exhausted.