Wednesday, October 15, 2014

Where The Food Is Delicious And The Service Is World Class

The last weekend of September, my mother was admitted to the hospital.  Initially, I would have said it was "nothing serious" because it's something she's dealt with in the past - cellulitis, a common bacterial skin infection - without incident.  But we didn't really realize how serious it was until I started Googling, and how serious it could have become until she saw the doctors and they gave their assessments.

When Ed and I were home earlier in September, we noticed she had a little swelling in her foot and ankle area, but because she'd had this happen before (but never been hospitalized for it) she just kept saying, "It'll be fine."  Then, that last Sunday of the month I spoke to her while she was preparing to have my brother and family over for dinner.  She was making meatballs, browning her sausage, making her gravy, and setting the table.  When she told me the redness had traveled up her leg overnight, I hit the roof.

I essentially scolded her up and down, told her my nephews would live one Sunday without macaroni, and that she needed to to go the Emergency Room immediately.  Traveling redness and swelling was not good.  "Okay, okay, okay." she said.  I could tell she was annoyed that I was badgering her.

Her last words to me before she hung up were, "I'm going to take a shower now and then I'll go up to the hospital.  But if they admit me, I'm going to be really pissed at you."
Really? And how's that different than any other time you're pissed at me?  I can deal with that.  


Surprise, surprise.  They admitted her.  She was not happy.

I started making phone calls, letting my brother know Pasta Sunday was off, and asked my sister-in-law to stop at my mother's house to make sure the lights, ceiling fans, and A/C were off.  Turns out my mother left the gravy on the stove, it was still bubbling

She remembered to take her iPad - fear of being without Pogo probably prompted that decision - but she didn't turn off the stove.  I created a monster when I bought that iPad for her.  And Pogo, that's another monster with it's grip around the elderly population.  Sometimes she can't sign onto Pogo because there's a little password glitch and she calls me, frantic.  It's one of those things where you enter the password and the cursor pops around making you lose your place, then you have to backspace to fix it.  Pain in the ass for sure, but when I try to tell her how to do it you'd think I was explaining quantum physics.  As if I could.

So, long-story-sort-of-short here, she spent about ten days in the hospital, being poked and prodded, and x-rayed and scanned.  She made friends with all the nurses learning every detail about their lives, had the doctor who "never spends that much time with patients" wrapped around her little finger according to her favorite nurse, and even found time to send me pictures of the meals she ate.

She loved everything they served her, loving even more that she didn't have to cook it.  She also liked that the salad, Jell-O, and pudding came in individual cups, which satisfied her anal-retentive gene.  She said she felt like she was at a resort and was probably the only one in that hospital who wasn't complaining about the food.

There were a few scares that had me worried, but it seems the antibiotics did their job and she was instructed to go easy on the foot now that she's back home.  The doctor wants her to conduct herself just as she did in the hospital, which means no excessive walking (so no shopping), no raking the yard, no open toed shoes, no strenuous housework, etc. until her home dose of antibiotics is finished.

I'm really glad she's home and feeling better.  Today she had a visit with all the WOWs, who came to her house and did all the work to pull together their monthly meeting, taking the brunt of the work off of her.  They're such great ladies, and I'm so happy she was able to be in the company of all of those women who love her.

I just hope she doesn't pull any funny stuff to land herself back in this "resort".  Even if they do have delicious Jell-O in tiny cups.


~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
2013: Something To Look Forward To

2012: Two More For You, Mr. President!
2011:
A Thing About Things
2010: Americans Among Us
2009: Next Time I’m Buying Him Carbon Paper And White Out. And A Roll Of Stamps. And Maybe A VHS Player.
2008: Flash Flood
2007: Consider The Source When Getting Advice
2006: Perfectly Apropos For Bush’s Home State
2005: Soul 2 Soul

1 comment:

Belledog said...

I love that your mom was sending you pictures of the food. You came by that trait naturally!

How scary. Good on you for making your mom go to the hospital. Do you think she'll be a good patient and stay off her feet for a while? (Just the course of antibiotics. Your mom is probably so vigorous because she is so busy and hands on.)

Best wishes for health and happiness to your mom, and Ed and you.