Upside

I've learned something about myself in these past 3 days.  No one I know and love can get arrested.  I simply don't do well with limited visitations.  Waiting for the next 30 minute visit, four times a day has to be a form of torture.  Give me sleep deprivation.  Give me my sister with an unending case of the hiccups.  Even give me the power going out with none of our electronics (phone, iPads, etc.) not fully charged and ready to go.  But please don't tell me I can't see my mom for however long I want and whenever I want.

I am doing my best to abide by the rules of the ICU.  Slowly over the past two days, I've been sneaking in earlier for each visit and leaving it much later than the 30 minutes allowed.  I can tell you exactly which nurses like me and which ones wish my mom didn't have me for a daughter.  Most of them have been super wonderful and even thanked me for keeping an eye on her when they had to step out of her room. 

I tell you this; once my mom is moved to her regular room, I'm not leaving.  I keep bringing my suitcase packed and ready to go. I'm moving in to Florida Hospital and no one better stop me.

The one thing that keeps tugging at my heartstrings is when my mom looks at me and says, "Why don't you stay here with me tonight?"   She is very repetitive because she doesn't remember a whole lot from hour to hour due the anesthesia still heavily in her system.  Oh mom, how I would love to be able to do that.  But that is going to have to wait a day or two.

So here's the upside to all this waiting around.  I've been so fortunate to be able to spend loads of time with my two sisters.  I don't remember the last time (had to be way before kids and even marriage) that I've gotten to do this.  Meghan and I do lunch together and even squeezed in a movie late Wednesday night.  And Lori and I have a pattern of doing dinner together in between the 5:00pm and 8:00pm visits.  Lori has been showing me all the new trendy hotspots in Orlando and let me tell you, they are yummy.  We even went to a 100% Vegan Raw restaurant, where none of the food is cooked over 118 degrees.  You wouldn't believe how delicious this place was. 

And last but certainly not least, I've logged in lots of time with my dad and stepmom, Rita just hanging around and talking.  Again, another benefit to me being here and making the most of my down time.

I am happy to report all seems to be going incredibly well back at the homefront.  I've gotten to skype daily with Jeff, Sam and Ian.  Boy do I miss those guys.  What an amazing family I have -- everywhere I turn around.  I am filled with such love right now.  I wish everyone in the world could experience the kind of people I have to call my own.  May they never be taken for granted. 

UPDATE:  Mom got moved to a regular room on Thursday afternoon.  And I am finally able to have that extended non-stop visit I so badly wanted.  The room is quite spacious, private and has a pull-out couch that becomes a bed for me to use. 

It took a while, but we got mom to take her first walk.  We are shooting for 3 a day while being in the hospital.  We saw a fellow patient walking by with a Michael Jackson tune playing.  Ah, what a great idea!  Love it!  Music always helps get you moving.  So what was Mom's song of choice?  The theme from "Rocky" of course. With a quick hit of a button on my iPhone, we were off. 

Each day my mom is getting better.  It's going to be a slow process, but progress is getting made.  And that's a great thing.