July 24, 2013

MIA

It's been months since I blogged.  Too many months.  Many reasons.  Mostly I've been busy because of those reasons.

After our Daytona trip in February, March flew by like a whirlwind.  My nephew came to visit for a week and that meant airport trips, driving him back and forth to see my parents and a quick day trip to the Jersey shore.  He lives landlocked in Texas and missed the Jersey shore.

April was not so great.  One of my mother's sisters passed away shortly after Easter.  She had heart disease and memory issues.  The week after her funeral, my mother went into the hospital with pneumonia and congestive heart failure.  The final diagnosis was aortic stenosis and a blocked artery.  Without surgery, she would only have about a year to live.  The surgery would need to be done in Philadelphia.  Two days after she was discharged, her only living brother, a bachelor, passed away.  And because her only living sister is in a nursing home also with memory issues, my mom became the executor of his estate.

Fast forward to May and a visit to the cardiac surgeon confirmed that she would indeed need surgery. And it was set for the 23.

Sparing the details, her surgery went well and she had no complications, except that she needed to have a pacemaker installed five days after the open heart surgery.  Eight days after her initial surgery, she was released and went home.  And now, almost nine weeks after her surgery, she is doing well and able to return to doing many things.  Most of the first six weeks home, I was at my parents' house as the designated caregiver.  I am so privileged that I have been able to do this.  And with out the support of my wonderful husband, who encouraged me to be there to help, I wouldn't have been free to be there.  And the help of my oldest brother, who came for a week so that my husband and I could attend a conference in California that was planned a while before her surgery.

One thing that struck me was that my dad, after 62 years of marriage, was truly her pillar.  He is amazing.  At almost 91, he does so much around the house that my mom has problems doing.

So, now that life has settled down a bit, I hope to get back to writing.  And getting my house back in order!

3 comments:

Unknown said...

So glad that all went well and you are back on the blog game.....now I have to get back too but my creativity is sorely lacking!

the cape on the corner said...

it sounds like it's been busy in your home, so you're probably thrilled things are settling down. loving that picture of denali in your header-I love that I know what that is, first hand. it's like looking at my own picture!

nice to meet you, you're from south jersey? like, the shore?

Debbie-Dabble Blog and A Debbie-Dabble Christmas said...

Thanks so much for stopping by. Sounds like you have definitely had your share of problems...

Hugs,
Debbie