Since my last post, the health issues with my mother have gone from REALLY bad, to horrible, to promising. Let’s see if I can break this down in a language that everybody here can easily understand.

My mother went into the hospital November 23; the day after Thanksgiving. She had been feeling horrible and had been talking about going to the hospital to get a check-up. That Friday, she simply was NOT acting herself, so my step-father, Larry, took her to St. Luke’s in Cedar Rapids and was transferred to Mt. Mercy in Iowa City. Her heart-doctor at Mt. Mercy concluded that she was in far worse shape than he had expected and quickly transferred her to the University of Iowa Hospital (also in Iowa City).

By the middle of the next week, Mom was feeling better and the doctors were determining what the course of action would be. They had initially determined that her blood-pressure was not high enough to push blood through her kidneys, which meant that she had slowly become internally toxic to herself. What was to come, would either be a small repair to her heart or possibly a heart-transplant (which at the time she was not eligible since she was not ill enough).

Then, all hell broke loose. By Tuesday night, she had had a head-ache all day that would NOT go away. By Wednesday morning, CAT scans were ordered. By Wednesday night, the decision was made to go into the back of her skull, install a tube, and hopefully drain the blood that had filled the surrounding tissue because her blood had become too thin to stay within the capillary walls.

This had now become SERIOUS! Family was called. My sister, Michele, flew-in Thursday night from Minneapolis (8 1/2 months pregnant) and my step-sister, Beth, drove in the following Friday morning (of course, I’m writing this the day after Christmas, so my time-line is a little hazy).

They punched a hole in the back of her skull to drain most of the collected blood and placed another smaller drainage-tube into the top of her skull to drain any fluids along the forward portion of the brain/skull wall. Surgery took 8 hours to complete.

Since then, it’s been a roller coaster ride. Mom spent 17 days in Surgical ICU before being released to a private recovery room, where we held a small Christmas Day party with Angie, Larry, Christine, Dave, Uncle Al, and Aunt Ruth.

Throughout much of Mom’s recovery, she’s been in-and-out of consciousness on a minute-by-minute basis. Most of the time, she’s been coherent, but on occasion she makes little sense. The family (along with the doctors) doesn’t believe there is any permanent brain damage from the ordeal that landed her in SICU in the first place. The consensus is is rather simple: She’s been in ICU for WAY too long and her body is too weak to make a speedy recovery.

So, for the time-being, Larry will be driving to Iowa City on a daily basis. I join him mostly during the evenings and during the times when either Larry cannot make the trip or has to leave early.

Everyone has been very supportive and we are fortunate to have as many friends and family to help out when necessary. Cross your fingers, because we are going to be here for a while.

OK. The truth is… I am stressed-out beyond belief. This is not the typical ‘finals week’ stress, but the kind of stress brought on by the tragedies occurring to the person you love. My mother has been in the hospital for the last two weeks, stemming from an issue with her heart. It’s tough to describe the situation without going into the history of the problem.

My mother, Mary Albers, contracted Rose fever when she was 19 years old. Since she survived the illness, but her heart took a beating in the process. To put it in non-technical terms: Her heart valves don’t close properly. Since I’ve been aware of the problem, my mother has undergone 3 open-heart surgeries to correct the life-threatening issues. Over the past 40 years, she has had 2 valves replaced with pure stainless steel, which is only noticeable during quiet times, when you can actually HEAR my mother’s chest ‘clicking’. It is quite awe-inspiring, to say the least.

A few of my good friends have met my mother and it is flattering to hear how much everyone enjoys her presence. She’s got this ‘take it as it comes’ attitude that is quite refreshing. Not to mention a laugh that can be heard from blocks away. One would hardly think that behind her facade, is a woman who has been in constant poor health, despite the way she comes off. Wait… not ‘despite’, but IN SPITE of her condition. She’s the kind of person I strive to be when I am her age.