It was a nice paramedic letting me know about the dire situation… Mom was unresponsive and Dad was at home freaking out. We jumped out of bed and I ran upstairs to let Olaf and Steph the situation and got on the road.
Kirsten was the next to get woken up with a scary phone call - once the shock was over, she and Shawn headed to the hospital as well. Olaf and Steph were on the road not long after us.
We stopped to pick up Dad then got to the hospital just after everyone else. Mom was not in good shape - she was not even opening her eyes. We were all keeping it together… barely. The doctors suspected a blood infection and started bombarding her with every antibiotic known to man, as well as an antiviral to cover all the bases.
It was a long day but hour by hour she slowly improved. By supper time she was having conversations. She's still in a lot of pain with a headache and body aches but Mom is strong and is ever positive. They don't know for sure what the problem is but suspect meningitis.
We've taken turns staying with her and Dad. I stayed overnight… which sounds more awful than it was. They brought in a sleeping chair which was quite comfortable so I slept pretty well until 5:30, despite wearing an n95 mask, gloves, and a sweaty plastic gown.
Kirsten and Olaf are both great nurses and probably much less bossy than I am!
Going back in time we had a busy week! Tuesday we went to Ikea for a new sofa for the trailer. With some difficulty and several bruises we got it onboard but then the real challenge started. How the heck were we going to get the old one out! It weighs about a million pounds which made it nearly impossible for me to even lift one end… and that's after a few months of lifting weights!
Out came the tools so we could try taking it apart! Which was a challenge. The thing is made like a brick s house with a heavy metal frame. We got 2 bolts out then hit a road block. Nothing would budge. We took some time to make a plan then got to work in the morning. The pivotal (as it turns out) bolts were nearly impossible to get at so Carm put a grinder disk on the Dremel and basically cut through them - suddenly we had success! We got it broken down into 3 easily carried pieces and it was done!
It didn't take long to get the new one set up! It's much more comfortable than the old one… which was also peeling like crazy, shedding all its crappy ‘leather' (I use that term with some chagrin).
The rest of the week was spent getting the trailer ready for our upcoming trip! I'm trying not to load every last thing that we might need for the whole summer!
Friday night we went to Olaf and Steph's for the night and now we are full circle!
It seems that there is always some crisis! We planned on 2025 being an uneventful year after the last two!
It's now after 7pm and I am back at the bedside after being home for several hours. Carm and I raced around doing preparation for the rally in 5 days… I feel pretty much under control and am thankful that I made myself do so much last week. Carm drove me back here. I think he was just tempted by the burger for supper and not my (no so) sparkling personality!
Tomorrow he'll go to the last class of Zumba without me… I'm sure he's not averse to being fussed over by a bunch of lovely women!
The results of all the tests came back confirming bacterial meningitis… the doctors said that it was a textbook case and they are pleased with her progress. Public health has contacted us and will be keeping an eye. They will arrange for Dad to go on antibiotics and may have the rest of us vaccinated for it. She wasn't too concerned about the rest of us (fingers crossed!).
Awesome!
“everything and nothing!”
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