I called Dad to check in on Mom last night and she actually answered the phone herself (although I have absolutely no confidence that she will remember talking to me).  Surgery got started a few hours later than expected, but after the delay, reports are that everything went "as planned."  Mom got home around 4 or 5 p.m. CST, and when I called around 8 was resting comfortable on "the good medicine," as she told me.  Will keep y'all updated!

When it rains....

Hi everyone! Hopefully y'all are still out there despite our tardiness in posting updates lately.  Mom is going in this morning for an additional surgery to resolve some issues with healing.  The surgery should take a few hours, followed by a two-week recovery period--the second half of which the family will all descend, pets in tow and grandchild in utero (Anna's expecting!), for a Thanksgiving extravaganza.  I am sure having a house full of us will only speed her recovery :).

In other news, Mom was again the participant in a good news/bad news-type situation yesterday.  The good news is that she and all passengers are okay.  The bad news is that her car was totaled by a speeding Nissan Murano that ran a stop sign and broadsided her car.  Her doctor has given her the go-ahead to have surgery today, and as Mom says, if she's going to be sore, she might as well be knocked out.  Here's what her poor car looks like--the other car hit hers with enough force that it then bounced back and hit the side of Mom's car a 2nd time, thus the comprehensive damage. 

Thanks again to everyone for your continued prayers and thoughts--we will be sure to continue to update you as recovery continues.

Freedom!

Mom was officially allowed to drive as of this Monday (which of course meant she went out by herself on Sunday, just to beat the deadline!).  She intended to take a "quick" trip to the WalMart to buy pumpkins--two hours later, she returned victorious, having proven to herself she could run a solo errand, and then promptly crashed for the remainder of the day.  Her current shelf life for sustained activity of any kind--mental or physical--appears to be about two hours, but as far as I can glean she is staying awake most of the day as long as she's not engaged in anything strenuous.

She did authorize me to pass along that her mental faculties are still a tad slow.  As examples, she offered that she found herself crying while watching "Hotel for Dogs," and then went to fix a snack and put a foil pan directly in the microwave.  Luckily she's not taking herself too seriously. 

On the treatment front, she began oral chemo today, and will hopefully be free of any side effects--cross your fingers!

Baby steps

Our on-the-scene Arkansas correspondent writes again:

"Anne’s last extraneous support team left , as parents Mary and Clarence departed Friday morning.  They left a clean house, pile of clean laundry, and refrigerator full of food.  Fortunately Jackson rolled in from Dallas Friday night, arriving for his long weekend “fall break” from SMU and staying through Tuesday.  He is good with the heavy lifting and errands, and with Jack home for the weekend, that should ease us back into close to “normal” this coming week. 

Anne is getting up and down the stairs, out to and back from the front porch, and  in and out of the car (no driving yet) pretty handily provided she can move at her own (very deliberate) speed and lifts nothing heavier than a pencil.  Doctor says all healing is proceeding as anticipated, but as different sets of nerves, muscles and other bodily stuff come back to life, and still rebuilding her stamina, there’s a new hurt every day, and one to two sinking spells a day when she just has to shut down, sometimes with the help of a  happy pill, and lie down for several hours to re-energize for the next leap forward.  But the active periods are longer, down periods shorter, and steady progress is made. 

We went to an informal supper with close friends at one of their homes Friday night.   We arrived late,  left early, and Anne never unclutched the “comfort pillow” she keeps against her tummy and chest, but sat up, joined us for dinner, had a great time, and after about forty-five minutes of party, predictably and precipitously crashed.  But she said the outing was well worth it.

We’ve continued to receive wonderful, timely deliveries of food, and as Anne’s appetite has returned, she along with the support crew has enjoyed everyone’s “best recipes.”  A get well card arrived yesterday from all of the school staff, with a whole handful of gift cards at our favorite local restaurants, so that will hopefully  ease us  back this coming week to having to fend for ourselves…which will be kind of nice being back to normal, but the support has been wonderful."

Weekend update

Guest blogger Daddy Jack has taken over--here's his weekend report from ground zero: 

On Friday, Anne's deep and wide support team began dwindling; Mary Claire flew back Friday morning to her Washington D.C. home, hubby and law practice after two weeks as chief of communications for convalescent services; and on Saturday morning Anna headed home to Dallas after a ten day stay.  That left Jack and Anne's parents, Mary and Clarence.  The good news being that she can now get out of bed, and go up and down the stairs by herself, though not repetitively nor with the velocity of a speeding bullet.  Her record for upstairs/downstairs transit in a day is four, but that resulted in her declaring a holiday the next day with only two such adventures.  On Sunday she actually ventured outside, walked up and down the driveway twice, and managed to sit up most of the day enticed by the Ryder Cup golf match from first tee to last finish. [N.B. from MC: Mom was very proud that she fixed her own breakfast Sunday, but was quick to point out it was a very complicated recipe--a bowl of cereal.]

 

She reports the food has been wonderful and ample and thanks everyone for the great cooking and delivery service - actually her handlers are eating far, far more of it than she and pass along their warm thanks as well (Jack reports gaining 8 pounds in the two weeks since her surgery), but her appetite is improving. Like a bull stock market, she's getting better, but by unpredictable fits and starts, two steps forward, one back...still not up to visitors. 

 

Thanks again for all of your cards, emails, calls, and sustenance - it would have been so much harder without it.

Yesterday, and today's resulting "hangover"

Mom had a huge day yesterday--she put on real clothes and left the house for the first time.  She had planned to just put on a bathrobe to go to her check-up but was feeling so good she got out of bed and instead donned yoga pants and a zip-up hoodie.  It's funny, it's not that her state of recovery had improved that much, but she just looked more recovered wearing sweats as opposed to a hospital gown.  She must have felt that way, too, because she started walking around trying to clean things up and we had to order her back to bed to wait until Dad got home to pick her up.  The appointment itself was uneventful, and reports were that everything is progressing as it should. 

When Mom got back, she installed herself on the downstairs couch and napped for most of the afternoon, and then made her way back upstairs around dinnertime.  She felt good all day yesterday, and got up and down by herself several times.

Consequently, she has a bit of a "hangover" today from all the activity.  She's very sore and can't quite get comfy.  I'm back to DC and real life today, but I'm guessing she will be asleep most of the afternoon.

She has loved hearing from everyone.  We hold a traditional summer camp-style mail call every afternoon to read her cards, texts, and emails, but we're still trying to keep a "no visitors" policy--she loves y'all all but it makes her so tired to do just about anything, even talk.  Don't worry, as she gets stronger and stronger, we're going to have to beg y'all to come keep her entertained, but she's not up to social visits just yet.

I'm signing off for now--updates will probably be more intermittent from now on since I will be back to work and out of the loop for immediate reports on how she's feeling, what she's eating, and the potential substitutes Dad is suggesting for medical equipment, but please feel free to comment or email, we pass everything on to Mom. 

Nap time.

Here is what Mom did today: she didn't want to take pain pills because she thought they were making her crazy; instead she took her anti-nausea pill and it put her to sleep.  The day went by pretty quickly for her that way.  I left for an eye appointment and when I returned her room was like a dark little sleep cave.  She did wake up later but swears she's cutting her pain pills in half from now on.  Goals for tonight include a shower and hair-washing in preparation for the big trip to the doctor tomorrow (we've already picked out her outfit).