Highlight Reel July 25th-31st, 2009 July 26, 2009

Saturday- Picked Dad up at 9am to bring him to town to get his prescription filled and go to the bank.  After we ran these few errands we went to St Cloud and spent the day with Mom.  We got back in time for Saturday evening mass.  When mass was over I came home and make some pork cutlets and mashed potatoes and gravy and brought some over for Dad then I mowed the lawn.  I finished right as it was getting too dark to see any more.  I don’t know why they bother with those little headlights on riding lawn mowers.  They are never bright enough to see anything with.

Sunday- Rose early to make a big breakfast and finish getting Zach packed to head to scout camp.  We drove him to Camp Cuyuna, they got checked in, took their swimmers tests and headed to the Apache campsite to set up their tents and the camp kitchen.  Then we headed back to Brainerd to go to the wake of one of our scout volunteers and former leader Don Howitz who had passed away from cancer.  I was very proud of the boys as they respectfully walked in to the funeral home in full unifroms.  Don’s daughter was so impressed that she lined them all up in front of Don’s urn and took a photo of them for her mother who was so appreciative that they had left camp to come to the wake.  When Jeff and I left the funeral home we grabbed a quick bite to eat and headed home.  I went over to Dad’s house and started mowing his lawn since he is unable to do it because of the fracture in his back.  After almost 3 hours of mowing I’m still only about halfway done, but it was starting to get dark.  Hopefully I can finish up sometime mid week.

Monday- work today was stressful trying to get caught up still from last week.  Used my lunch hour to go to a funeral.  After work I went to pick up Dad to head to St Cloud to see Mom and found out they were getting ready to transfer her here by Medi-Van.  Dad treated me to supper and we went to Bethany to see her and get her all settled in.  Got home and picked up the house (notice I said picked up and not cleaned) in preparation for overnight guest tonight.

Tuesday-  We were supposed to have a big visit today at work by our divisional and some regionals.  They did make it to the store but when I left at about 5:30 today they hadn’t made it to my department yet.  I drove over to visit Mom after work and was only there about 15 minutes and Dad came.  A half hour later Papa, Nana & Bonnie stopped by.  Her room is kind of small and there’s only 2 chairs in it so I was sitting on the floor.  I didn’t stay much longer.  She had plenty of company and I hadn’t had supper with my husband in about a week and a half.

Wednesday-  It was Jeff’s day off so he headed to Boy Scout Camp to spend the day with Zach.  Zach is taking the Fishing Merit Badge and he needs to catch 3 different species of fish so Jeff stayed late to fish with him.  I went to visit Mom on my lunch break and after work.  She’s making such progress!  Dad took her out to the flower gardens in her wheelchair so she could get some fresh air.  When I left Bethany Good Samaritan I went to Dad’s and mowed his ditch and wanted to finish the rest but Dad was out of gas.  So, I raked up the grass clippings and dumped wheelbarrow loads into the compost pile and then I hauled water to all his flowers because they were pretty droopy.

Thursday- I helped catch a shoplifter at work today.  That was pretty exciting!  Went to visit mom on my lunch break and after work.  She wasn’t feeling too good when I visited her the second time.  The physical therapist was a little rough with her and after she was done mom’s incision had started to bleed and her fractured knee swelled up.  The pain medication just wasn’t cutting it today so Dad and I left early to let her rest.

Friday- got up early and made a couple of pans of bars for my boys at camp, put supper in one crockpot for my dad and delivered it to his house and filled another crockpot for Jeff, went up to visit Mom, caught up with Jeff to cash his check and headed for Camp Cuyuna to spend the night with Zach. (check out Camp Cuyuna post for full story on that.)

In a Blink July 26, 2009

It’s crazy how life can change in a blink of the eye.  Don’t believe it can change that fast?  Ask my parents.  Last Sunday just that quickly it happened to them.  My parents were in an accident.  My dad glanced at something quickly and he felt himself veer towards the ditch.  When he tried to right the wheel it was too late.  The soft sand at the side of the road pulled him in.  They jumped several road approaches before he was able to being the truck to a stop.  The brakes don’t work real well when you are airborn.

Both suffered injuries.  Dad has a compressed fracture of one of his vertebra and a bruised elbow and sore neck.  Mom wasn’t quite so lucky.  My mom crushed several vertebra and fractured her “good” knee (the other one she had replaced last year).  She was transferred by ambulance to St Cloud Hospital Neurosurgery and Spine Care Unit.

When dad called from the hospital and told me they had been in an accident and were transferring mom to St Cloud I told him I would be right there, hung up the phone and left.  I never even thought to ask him what was wrong with her or how bad off she was.  It was a terrifying drive in to the hospital when your brain is thinking the worst.  I prayed all the way there and said the fastest rosary I think I’ve ever said.

The front desk at the hospital gave me my parents’ room numbers and when I got to Mom’s room I was so relieved to see her conscious and able to talk.  She was in a lot of pain, but she was alive.  Dad had left his room to be with mom.  When the EMT’s arrived to transfer her we left for St Cloud.  She beat us there by only a few minutes and thus we began the waiting game.  After waiting in the emergency room at St Josephs for about 3 hours, Dad and I waited in the emergency room in St Cloud for another 3 before they got mom in a room.

On the way home I spent half the ride just getting a hold of everybody that needed to know- my brother, my grandparents, my kids and my Dad’s sisters.  By the time we got home Dad was in a lot of pain from the car ride and all the sitting at the hospital.  Neither one of us slept very well that first night.

I took the next couple of days off to spend all day at the hospital with her.  Wednesday she had surgery and that went a lot better then we thought.  The doctor had initially painted such a grim picture that we were really scared.  But things are going better now.  Mom is in a lot of pain (and she will be for a while) but her outlook is great.  The nurses love her because she’s a great patient that hardly ever complains and she loves them because they’ve been so good to her.  In fact, when one went down to the cafeteria to buy Mom a diet Dr Pepper she immediately became mom’s favorite and an angel in her eyes.  I’m probably going to be replaced as a daughter!

Thank you everyone for all your hugs, cards, phone calls, thoughts and prayers for Mom and our family.  They have meant so much to us and been a source of strength.  Mom is on the road to recovery, and while the road is long it is a lot better then no road at all.  I’m so thankful that I have them both with me.