Sleep? What is that?

Last night I was sitting on the couch next to my wife reading when my cell phone rang at 9:31 p.m. It was my Dad. Not out of the ordinary for him to call me on a Sunday evening. I had not spoken with him for most of the week, life is busy. I figured he was calling to check in on the family.

The conversation started out with the normal greetings and how are people doing type questions. And then Dad's tone changed a bit and I realized that something was up. He told me that he had Mom in the hospital again.

Mom has not been feeling well for the last few weeks. Really it goes back to June 1st when Dad called to tell me that Mom was in the hospital and had been since very early in the morning. She woke up with pain in her back. Twelve hours later and a whole lot of tests, it was discovered that mom has an enlarged heart and was in congestive heart failure. Her heart rhythms were out of whack and she was in critical condition. She spent most of a week in ICU while the doctors worked to get things back to normal.

Three weeks ago, Dad had Mom in the hospital again for severe abdominal pain. she had a CT Scan and a few other tests that did not find a real cause for the pain other than some possible diverticulitis and another minor issue. She was referred to another physician. He sent her home with some medicine and to check her wallet at the front desk.

Back she was again last night not feeling well and suffering from abdominal pain still, a fever and an elevated white count. During the course of the tests, Mom's Coumadin INR was found to be at nine. Pretty high by any standard. When I arrived at the ER, they were preparing to admit Mom to the medical floor. She needed some plasma transfusions to help bring her levels down (I don't know if they gave her anything else along with the plasma). Mom's blood was tested again before the plasma was administered and the INR was 10.5 (going the wrong direction).

Dad and I waited until they had started the first transfusion before we headed home for some rest. I got home around 1 a.m.

Around 6 a.m. when they were about to start the third bag of plasma, Mom had a reaction and started to shiver and shake. The nurses covered Mom with a lot of blankets trying to keep her warm. They stopped the transfusions and actually found that the INR had come down to a normal level. Mom was monitored for the rest of the morning and afternoon and was allowed to go home around 5pm.

I called Dad tonight and he reports that Mom is feeling a ton better and actually at some pudding, soup, and crackers for dinner. That is more than she has eaten in the last three weeks. I am glad to hear she is feeling better.

I am headed to bed early tonight!