Good News and Not-so-good News

I think I'll start with the not-so-good news first.  On Saturday morning, my mom suffered another stroke.  She was so extremely dizzy that she couldn't even lift her head off of her pillow.  Once again my dad called 911 who got her to the hospital quickly where they learned that the stroke was in the same location as the last one but instead of another clot, it was a hemorrhage.  Over the course of this week, her dizziness has gone away but her eyesight is worse, she has tingling on the right side of her face and her arm hurts.  Her coordination has decreased as has her stability when walking.  Due to this, she's going to be transferred back to the in-patient rehab facility tomorrow where she'll stay for at least another week.  She's very, very upset about this mainly because it's such a set back but also because she was hoping to be able to play with Audrey this weekend when we're there to house hunt.  I just hope that the rehab helps and that she's able to regain her strength and coordination.  My dad and sister-in-law are planning on taking Audrey to my mom so they can at least visit.  That should lift her spirits.

The good news is that, as you know, we put our house on the market last Tuesday, 3/22 and.....it's already SOLD!!!!  We had a couple come through on Friday and again on Saturday and received their offer on Sunday night.  By Monday night, after a few rounds of negotiations, we accepted their offer.  Woo-hoo!  One major thing to cross off what I'm calling the "Big To Do List."  Our closing date is June 10 which means we now have a date that all other activities are based off of - moving, Audrey's last day at daycare, when all final dentist/dr appointments need to occur by, etc.  I told you my to do list was big.  The next 11 weeks are going to be insane and will likely fly by.  So much to do!!!

Happy Friday!

This was a big week.  On Tuesday, my mom left rehab and is finally home!  She'll begin out-patient rehab for 3 hours, 3 times a week.  Lots of hard work but she's had such a great outlook.  She's been in the hospital for 3 weeks and yet she was always happy when you talked with her and really positive.  I don't know anyone else who would have fared so well.

We also put our house on the market on Tuesday and already have a showing scheduled for today!  Know anyone moving this way?  It's so bittersweet.  We're excited to move to Ohio for all the good things that will come with that but we are SO bummed to be moving out of our beloved house.  We got in with the builder before it was built so we got to choose EVERYTHING.  We love our house.

House hunting in Cleveland isn't going so well.  Since Bill's work schedule will be insane and even when he's home he could get called in at a moment's notice, he wants to be within a reasonable driving distance to the hospital.  That really limits the areas we can look in and unfortunately, the houses in those areas are OLD.  Think 1920s, no AC, detached garage, radiator heat and creepy, creepy basements.  They all have converted third floors too, which might sound nice but not when you're having to duck because the ceiling is angled for the roof line.  Most of the bathrooms only have tubs (no shower) on the third floor too.  Our spirits are low but we've only been to look twice and have seen about 26 houses.  We'll go again in another week to see a few more.  If we still can't find anything, we'll just rent for awhile.  Since we'll only be in Cleveland for 6 years (that we know of) we don't want to settle on just any old place because we'll have to turn around and sell it.  I guess we'll see.  Wish us luck!

On a side note, Bill and I got a babysitter for tomorrow night - DATE NIGHT!  We're heading to a restaurant in another town that we've always wanted to try.  This is going to be a great weekend!!

Christmas Tree, Oh, Christmas Tree

Yes, I realize that this is very old but I want to get it out here.  :)  We spent Christmas in Toledo this year with my family.  Audrey had her own tree that was decorated in non-breakable ornaments.  She also had her own Fisher-Price "Little People" Nativity set that she loved.  By the end of the trip, she knew to give Baby Jesus kisses!

Not that Audrey knows what's going on yet but it was fun to play Santa after she went to bed to put all of the presents under the tree.  Our family has always been a little over the top with our gift giving - at the time I said it looked like Santa's sleigh exploded in my parent's living room.  She had fun Christmas morning ripping into the wrapping paper.  It was obvious that she had been a very good girl this year.

Helping Daddy open gifts.

She didn't quite like the hat!

Other pics from the trip.

Hanging out with Uncle Sean.

A play date with a very good and longtime friend of mine.  We've been friends for 23 years!

Reading a book with Grandpa.

My Mom

Last Wednesday night after I had gone to bed, I received a dreaded, middle of the night phone call from my dad - my mom had suffered a stroke.  They were going to bed and were at the bottom of their staircase when my mom said that she felt funny, had a headache and could only see half of him.  Luckily, my dad recognized the signs and called 911 almost immediately.  At the hospital, they worked to get her blood pressure to a low enough level that they could administer a drug called tPA that would break up any clots in her body.  The drug must be administered within 3 hours of the stroke and miracle of all miracles, her pressure lowered right at the 3 hour mark. 

Even though we only had about 2 hours of sleep that night and both Bill and I were fighting off fevers - Audrey, of course, was just getting over an illness and was on antibiotics - we drove to Ohio first thing Thursday morning to be with everyone.  Those first few days were ROUGH, which is really an understatement.  My mom slept most of the time and when she was awake, was barely coherent, could only talk in one word sentences and often times spoke gibberish.  Tests proved that she couldn't read or interpret pictures and we weren't sure if she was able to comprehend what was going on around her.  The stroke left the right side of her body numb and extremely weak.  Her eyesight was even worse - her entire right field of vision was gone.  I didn't know this but each of your eyes sees both the right and left fields - it's not like your right sees the right and the left sees the left.  It's as if each eye is split in two.  While her actual eyes are fine, her brain can no longer process the right half of each eye's sight.  Crazy, right?  Anyway, due to this, in the beginning, she basically ignored her right side, including people standing and/or talking to her from that side.  We found out later that she had a large stroke in the back left side of her brain - this area controls vision, speech and comprehension.  She did recognize family and friends even if she didn't remember or couldn't say names.  She went nuts when she saw Audrey and we had to keep her from ripping out her IVs and getting out of bed because she wanted to hold her.

Thankfully, by Saturday afternoon my mom had very quickly turned a corner.  Her memory lapses and confusion weren't as prominent and she was looking better.  I, on the other hand, ended up in the ER TWICE that day for two ear infections and the worst pink eye you've ever seen - what a waste of 3 precious hours of the day!  By Sunday my mom was able to be moved out of the ICU and could speak at even greater lengths without issues. She was also acknowledging her right side and people in that direction.

Now, one week later, my mom is at an in-patient rehab facility and will be there for at least 3 weeks.  She has improved dramatically.  The feeling and strength on her right side is slowly coming back and she's even able to walk with a walker.  She still has trouble finding words and forgets things but we're hoping therapy will help her with that.  She struggles to read and write but think that over time this will get better, if not resolve itself completely.  In the end, we still don't know if she'll ever be able to walk unassisted, drive, if her vision will improve (it's doubtful) or what the long standing issues will be.  Time will tell. 

It's amazing how in a few short seconds, your brain can become so damaged but that it takes months to heal itself.  I believe my mom has a very long road ahead of her but I have no doubt that she's up for the challenge.  Afterall, she has grandchildren to read to and take to the zoo, and a daughter to guide.  I don't know where I'd be without her.

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