It's Been Too Long

Hello My Friends

I have missed reading and communicating with all of you sweet ladies. My apologies for the prolonged absence as this entire summer has been one of uncertainty far beyond what I ever would have imagined it could be. 

Being one of the "new kid's on the block" in blog land I felt like I was just  starting to get the hang of posting. So, here I am back and struggling for some time to sit down and write.

My last post (if you can call it that) was in June. It was more like a quick "so long and see ya soon", or so I thought. My daughter (B) was having minor surgery and would be needing help with the little one after returning home. None of the family were overly concerned and thought her recovery time would be minimal and she would be released to go home.

Since we live so far from each other we were looking forward to this as some quality family time, plus I wanted to be a hands-on Nana for a change. My casual packing (which is where I left off with y'all) quickly became a situation of extreme urgency. My SIL notified me that B was being transferred by ambulance to a much larger hospital almost 2 hours away. There had been complications that required a much larger facility that could give her the treatment and care she would need.

My travel plans were adjusted (courtesy of my darling husband) and I was off to Georgia. Once I arrived my SIL picked me up at the airport and did his best to update me on her condition on our way to the hospital. I knew she was currently in Cardiac ICU. B gave me permission to share this but I will not go into full details of her illness out of respect for privacy.

She was groggy but did recognize when I came in the room. She insisted I get on the bed and relax next to her. After rearranging cords and tubes (which seemed to be attached to every part of her body) I climbed up there and we cuddled for a long time.

There was only 1 overnight support person permitted and that was now Mama's job, so I sent SIL home for some much needed rest and to check on our little Ellie who was staying with her other grandma (who Ellie calls BeBe). I had managed to tuck a surprise in my bag for B, it was one of her many collectibles that mamas like me save once their kids leave home. 

She immediately recognized it and was amazed that I still had it. She held on to it smiling knowing that once again, it was hers.

What we thought would be possibly another week (estimated by the doctors) turned into weeks of an emotional roller coaster for our family and my B struggling as one day she seemed better and then the next she would quickly decline again.

In all she was in 9 different rooms and had to be placed in ICU 3 times. I would have to say the last visit to ICU was the most traumatic for both of us. She had been moved to a regular room and seemed to be doing much better. We had settled in to sleep (which is not easy to do in the hospital) when around 1:30 am I woke to lights on in the room and nurses everywhere.

She was running a high fever, her heart rate was up again and we were going back to ICU immediately. I started grabbing our belongings and shoving them into bags as quickly as I could. Hoping that I had gathered everything off I went suitcase in tow following this caravan of medical staff who had my child.

It was a very long walk and my mind and heart turned to God and asking him for help. "Why can' t we get her well God"? Please give the doctors the assistance they need to get my daughter out of here and home to her family.

We finally arrived to ICU and there was a whole new staff ready to get her settled and hopefully stable. At that point there were so many people I just quietly found the next chair that would be my bed and sat down (out of the way) so they could do their jobs.

A nurse came over and asked could she get anything for me. At that point the tears started flowing and try as I might, they would not stop. She recognized that and just brought lots of tissues :)

I had been requesting prayer from our former church that we attended while living in Georgia and where B attends now.  The pastors wife drove down to visit and pray with us. She brought quite a care package full of snacks and other goodies along with this cute faux succulent and prayer rock. She also took my laundry and did it herself so I would not have to leave B.

I am so very thankful to have her as my friend and sister in Christ. Thank you Alice <3  We spent the next week in ICU and were thrilled when it was time to move to another room out of ICU...YEA!! Once we spent a lengthy amount of time in her new room and she remained stable. We were beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel :)

The docs also gave the "okay" for a visit with my sweet little grand baby Ellie. Now let me tell you, keeping an 18 month old away from all those things she should not touch in such a small space is not an easy task, but I was up for it mentally, not sure about physically...LOL!  We walked the halls for awhile to expend some of that energy but it was very important to get her back in the room to see her mama and know that she was okay. They were apart for too long and Ellie had been asking for her.

At this point some of the wear and tear was showing on this Nana and it sure would have been nice to get a little toddler energy injection!

Having her come visit twice, even though it was not the visiting time we had hoped for, was such a blessing. Holding her close and enjoying being her Nana was the best feeling ever!  Since being home in Iowa it has been a whirlwind of getting back into routine and getting my youngest off to high school, he is a freshmen this year.

It is tradition that mama gets her "first day of school" picture every year. I guess he thinks protesting will somehow get him out of this embarrassment sooner or later. No way! if the older 2 had to suffer through this, so does he...LOL!!

I am happy beyond measure to say that B is doing well (God is Good) and we are hoping to have her family come to Iowa for a visit sometime soon. For those of you reading this, thanks so much for taking time out of your day to visit as well.

Take Care

Karen