Archives for November 2008

When my grandpa came out of surgery last night, the doc came out and ushered the posse that was my family into a small triage room and started his update by telling us that my grandfather suffered a stroke during the surgery. Way to open, Doc. He then clarified: it was a small stroke, they don’t believe there will be any lasting effects from it, and that everything else looks great. He said they were able to scrape (OW!) the blockage out of his carotid artery and then patch it back up. I guess the part that was all blocked was the section that leads to the brain. He drew a picture on the white board of the artery structure and what they did, but I wasn’t thinking enough to be the tacky girl taking a picture of it.

Of course, my grandma stopped listening after stroke. She is a worrier, which is why my mom is a worrier which is why my sister is a worrier (I’m a worrier too, but those other three? They are WAY worse than me!). We ventured back into the waiting area to wait for some of the anesthesia to wear off and for the doctor to give us another update. Awhile later, he came back out and said that everything looks good.

Whew.

And it was a relief to see the tears in my grandma’s eyes, knowing she had been hanging on to it since the last time the doctor had talked to us. She was so obviously relieved. (I’m guessing that as a family, we’re gonna have to school these docs on how to present news to my grandmother – good news first, guys, and then if the bad news is really THAT small, BURY THE HELL OUT OF IT inside all that good news).

I ventured home at that point. It had been about six hours of hospital and I was tired and missing my kids. I couldn’t reach Hubby on his cell phone or the landline and I was admittedly a bit freaked out, not knowing if a) The Princess got off the bus where she was supposed to and b) if Hubby remembered to leave work early to pick up The Princess from her friend’s house and Pumpkin from daycare. (My aunt asked, “Do you really think he’d forget?” Short answer: Yes. The man forgets everything). Remember that worrying thing I talked about? Yeah. I was worried about my kiddos.

I was able to reach them as I pulled out of the hospital parking lot and was relieved to hear the kids had been fed (McDonalds: did I call it or what?) and they were heading up to Barnes & Noble so that Stepson could spend some birthday cash in the bookstore. I mosey’d home to my empty house and a bowl of Cheerios for dinner before settling in to get caught up with the work projects that had accumulated while I was sitting in the Surgical Waiting Room.

I stopped when my kids came home and hung out for a bit. I took frequent breaks after that because I was so tired that my attention span was shot and I couldn’t handle long doses of staring at work. I finally wrapped things up sometime around 10:30 or 11 and all but collapsed into bed from sheer exhaustion.

Even today, I still feel tremendously wiped out, but it’s another day and coffee will soon be involved.

I am sitting in the hospital Surgery Center waiting room. It’s loud in here – everyone’s on a cell phone and the television is blarning Fox News even though no one is watching it. My eyelids are heavy and I’m tired – and this is the first time in years that I have felt bored. Boredom is a luxury you don’t really get when you have kids. I have my laptop, a WiFi network (albeit, a slow cranky one, apparently), a box of Wheat Thins, some peanut butter cookies I made for my grandmother, texting on my phone, chatting on Skype. I have a book in my bag. My family is in the middle of the waiting room – I’m off to myself in a double chair by the wall. My laptop battery was getting a little low and there are so few wall outlets in this place. Fine by me, I don’t feel like having a conversation with my family – and to be honest, I can follow their conversation fine from over here. (They’re that loud).

My mom just shouted over to me, “Sarah! Grandma thinks you’re pretty!” I don’t know if I’ve ever heard her say that, so I’m a little shell shocked in my corner of the room. It’s funny, I guess – I can’t think of a time when she has ever said anything like that to me. An unexpected bonus of sitting in the hospital waiting room. Maybe it was all those cookies, who knows.

Right about now, The Princess’s school bus should be going by our house and I am hoping that she remembered that she was supposed to get off at the next stop at her friend’s house. I am hoping that if she forgot, the bus driver remembered. And I’m hoping if EVERYONE forgot, she sees the note on the door and goes right to where she needs to go without panicking.

I hope that Hubby remembers to leave work early to pick up the kids. I hope he remembers the security code for the entry system at Pumpkin’s daycare. I half wonder what the kids are going to eat for dinner – but I’m betting that he gets to be Fun Daddy and take them through the Drive through at MickeyD’s (a RARE occasion in our house, I hate the smell of McDonalds).

My grandfather has been in surgery for about an hour, and so there are about two more hours to go. We haven’t heard anything, and I hope things go smoothly. I’m tired. I slept horribly last night, and it’s hitting me like a ton of bricks. My game plan, which involved lots of Coke Zero, means that I really have to pee, and I am afraid that once I stand up, I’m going to realize that one of my legs has fallen asleep. I really hate waiting. I’m horrible at waiting.

It’s a long day.

My grandpa is having surgery tomorrow afternoon. He’s scheduled for surgery at 2:30 eastern time to unblock (or whatever the hell they do) his VERY blocked carotid artery. So, if you are so inclined, please send prayers, good thoughts, positive mojo, good juju, happy energy, or just… whatever you’ve got. Means the world to me. Thanks!

It’s Sunday and I just woke up from another freakin’ weekend nap on the couch. And I’m not a napper. It has been insane. The past two nights I have gotten at least eight hours of sleep and I’m still completely exhausted and freezing throughout the day. I’m taking that to mean that I’ve got another trip to the doc’s again soon for another round of getting my blood drawn to check my thyroid levels. At my last appointment, my levels were too high so the doc wrote a prescription for a lower dose. I’m thinking they went too far in the opposite direction. Wheee, what fun.

My kids are hanging with my mom today. I figured with the weather turning to cold (it’s about 37 degrees right now) that I wanted to do some Christmas shopping. Dropped girls off with mom, and made the Hubby go to Target with me. While I’m pretty sure their stockings are done, presents wise, I want to pick up a few more things. I could tell Hubby wasn’t really feeling it and to be honest, I love Christmas shopping for my girls – I wanted it to be fun. I’ll finish it on my own in the next few weeks. (As with last year, I think I’ll make it my goal to be done by December 15 – because, why not?).

The stockings are my favorite part – and have always been. Maybe because of the way I was brought up. My mom still puts together stockings for me and my sister and brother – and that’s always the most fun part – seeing what weird quirky things she puts in them. I make my mom’s and my sis, brother and mom’s husband contribute a few things to put in it. It’s fun to look for those crazy little things you know a person likes (things like margarita salt and funky nail polish colors and random stuff like that). I’m a big dork about birthdays and Christmas and all that stuff – which is why the stocking appeals to me, I think. Someone taking the time to fill it with things that will make me smile – it’s not the gifts, but just knowing that I’m thought of. I’m a sucker like that.

All this Christmas talk today, sheesh. It’s just barely November. Guess that’s what happens when the snow starts flying.