A Roller Coaster Ride

24 days ago my mom went to the emergency room because she was having trouble breathing. 14 days ago she had quintuple bypass surgery. My mom is 82 years old. 2 weeks ago the doctors told her that she had had a massive heart attack, that she had only had 1/3 of her heart working for probably the past few months. All of her main arteries were 99% blocked. Her choices, go home and prepare to die, they told her that her heart could last one hour, but most optimistic timeframe would be 6 months...they said she was a high risk for the bypass surgery but if she survived it and the recovery it would add years to her life.

When my mom heard her choices she told us she was not ready to die. She was very afraid to undergo the surgery but was not ready to go home and die.

My mom still works 15 hours a week at Walmart (not because she has to, because she loves to work, loves her co-workers)

She lives alone, still drives (albeit, that is a bit scarey)

We (I have four siblings) told her we would support whatever choice she made, she chose the surgery....

There were complications in surgery, it went 2 hours over the normal procedure because they could not stop her bleeding...

The surgeon came out and told us the bypass was a success but the complication during surgery left my mom very vulnerable...

The first week after surgery, they kept her under the anethesia, on a ventilator until they could stabilize her.....

It was touch and go, hour by hour the first week...

My sister, brother-in-law and I spent the first 3 nights at the hospital taking turns checking on her....we promised her we would not leave her alone...

On Easter Sunday the doctors decided to cut her anetheisa and begin to wake her up...we did not know if she had had a stroke and how she would come out of it...

By Wednesday she was awake and lucid...they took a risk and removed the ventilator as they were afraid if they did not she would begin to go backwards...

She was able to sustain her breathing on oxygen, and she was lucid (the nurses told us they were amazed--they did not expect her to make it)
...we were so happy...

By Thursday evening, what the doctors call "hospital pyschosis" set in....my mom became very confused, dioriented and agitated...that has been her state ever since

She is in and out, moments of knowing us and then moments of calling out for her sisters, mom and dad, all of whom have passed....


That's where we are now...they tell us she will come out of this, it will take time, they are doing everything they can to support her body healing until she gets her mind back....

It has been so hard to see everything she has been through....my mom is 4 foot 8 inches...full blooded Italian (she doesn't know the pope died yet)....

Her name is Ida...

She is a fighter...

Thanks for all of your prayers...