Apologies in Advance - this is a long, rambling post with no pictures...

Here I sit in the solarium at our local hospital. It is 4:30 am, and I’ve been here all night watching my mother sleep. Everything is fine now, but what a day this has been.

A friend was planning on coming down for a visit, and we have all been looking forward to it all week. She has three darling kids, and her husband is a computer whiz, and he was going to hook my laptop up to the wireless internet thingy so I can blog from anywhere in the house! Mom called first thing in the morning because she didn’t remember what time they were coming. No biggie - “senior moments” and all that… I told her it would be 9:30am. Then she asked me the name of the youngest child. Red flag. Mom loves these kids…would never, ever forget one of their names. I tell her, and chat a bit more, then hang up. The phone rings again, and it’s mom. She asks what time they are expected to arrive. Ummm, MAJOR red flag. I tell her, then ask if she would put dad on the phone. He comes on the line, and says that mom has been having a bit of trouble remembering things. She couldn’t remember her cat’s name. Bessie!!! Huge, big ol’ red flag waving all over the place.

I get dressed and go over there, and everything seems fine…except for the fact that Mom doesn’t know what month it is, and keeps forgetting Bessie’s name. Oh, and she asked me the name of her great-grandchild. The red flag has turned into a red TARP covering the whole house and it is getting bigger by the minute. I suggest a trip to our friendly neighborhood ER, but no… Too much of a bother, she feels fine, yadda, yadda, yadda.

By this time, the visitors are due any minute, and I decide to go back home and wait for them and bring Kris and the kids back to mom and dad’s with me. They were planning on stopping over and seeing Bessie anyway, so it was perfect. Kris also works with a lot of elderly patients, and I was anxious for her opinion of mom’s symptoms.

We have a very nice visit, but mom is somewhat “ditsy”, and when Kris gets back to my house she says there is no doubt that mom needs to be seen by a doctor. Today. No doubt. I call and discuss this with dad, and he calls back a few minutes later saying that they are going to go to the ER, and I shouldn’t come to the hospital - he will call me when they get home.

So of course I comply with his request. NOT! I’m 46 years old, and nothing in the world would keep me away from the hospital! I am of course thinking of a million and one terrible scenarios, but a CAT scan doesn’t show an abnormality (Yay!) and they decide to admit her for observation and further testing. By the time she gets into a room, some of the initial tests start coming back, and it turns out she has a urinary tract infection. That could definitely cause the confusion! That is the absolute best news we could have heard!

Just in case she started to get confused again, I decided to stay overnight in the hospital with her. I’m not allowed to stay in the room since mom has a roommate, but I’m in a solarium two doors down from mom, and I peek in every half hour or so. Hey, I’m so glad they are letting me be near her, I’m happy to comply with any rules they have. Thank goodness Kris’ husband was able to hook my laptop up with wireless internet stuff! I feel so much less “alone” just having my laptop here!

Well, I’m sure I’m rambling. It’s now a little after 5:00, and mom is still sleeping peacefully. Her roommate is also still snoring LOUDLY! It would be great if mom could come home today, but the overnight nurse said that patients aren’t usually discharged on Sundays. Oh, well. She is getting excellent care, here. I’m just looking forward to the start of regular visiting hours so someone can come to the hospital and relieve me so I can go home and get a shower and get this hospital ick off of me!