Home Again

Well, I'm here, still alive, but not yet able to get the words out to tell the tale of my recent travels. Boy, what a way to end the year though. I promise I'll get stuff out of my head and onto the computer soon. Wishing you all a Happy (and especially healthy) New Year!

It's a Done Deal

Just charged $515 to the credit card

After tons and tons of stress the past few days, lots of waiting to receive emails or phone calls, and searching Travelocity for WAY TOO LONG (seriously, they need to revamp the searching process), I basically told my mom that I am coming to be the rescuer/ slave/ whatever you want me to be for the next two weeks. She, nor my sister, did not really want to accept the offer as we all suffer from the same syndrome. Even if your husband has just had 2 brain surgeries in one week's time, seizures, arm surgery to repair a fistula from having too many rounds of dialysis, no money to pay for parking the car in the hospital lot or for more than one meal a day. That doesn't even qualify you to ask for help.

So I told them I was coming. And that's that. Now.....we need to give a few premature pats on the back to Ron for offering to take over our household. The kids will get a good lecture tomorrow about not giving Dad any problems and they WILL be helping out (not that they don't already but they'll be stepping it up a notch).

I will be leaving this Saturday and returning late on the night of Christmas Eve. Can you imagine a present any better than that? And for some strange reason this year, not only did I get all the Christmas shopping done early but, BUT, I have everything wrapped and ready to go. My subconscious must have known that that would be necessary.

Why?????

I was all ready to write a happy post. Maybe something about the holidays. Or kitties and bunnies. But instead I have to write this to get it out of my head.

You see, this past week, my brother-in-law had surgery to remove a clot that could potentially cause an aneurysm. His team of doctors have been keeping a close eye on it for quite some time as it was supposedly not a big threat, but it did need to be taken care of before things changed. The surgery went well, but he was still in ICU the whole week due to not being able to eat or drink anything. Apparently the swelling was causing such a horrible headache that he couldn't even keep down water. The surgery was done in the temple area and one of his eyes was swollen completely shut. Also the whole area was swollen and protuding.

I've had minimal contact with my mom because she and my dad are caring for 6 of their kids (the other 2 are living on their own now). She emails me and tries to call when she gets a chance which, obviously, is not too often. I had been thinking about trying to call my sister today to see how things were going and to send birthday wishes (it's his birthday today), but now I'm glad I didn't. She said she's fine until she gets on the phone with our mom (probably not, but it's a family trait to ALWAYS show them that you're strong and don't need help).

Yesterday, he started having seizures. Tomorrow he has to go back in for another surgery to relieve some of the pressure on his brain. I think it's either blood or some other fluid that has collected and his causing pressure, hence the seizures. Either way, it's no good.

Guess what? I want to be there. Just to be a support in any way I can. Plus, to complicate matters, my mom is scheduled for her second knee replacement surgery in 10 days. It would feel really nice to be there to help care for my nieces and nephews. So, I start checking prices for flights. Can we afford to go any further into debt? Not really. Do I really care right now? Nope. Can the kids and Ron hold down the fort for a couple weeks? Probably. Can I take time off work and prolong getting more daycare kids (aka: much needed income)? Not sure.

Send any and all positive thoughts his way.