Caring for Our Mothers

Recently, my mother, age 52, has undergone two spinal surgeries on her neck since March 8. The first was to correct bulging discs that were pinching nerves, causing numbness in her fingers, and after waking up in excruciating pain at 10 days post op she was admitted to the local emergency room for pneumonia and they also tested her TWICE for the flu, now, if you've never had the flu test before you should hope you never have to! She was given these tests once in the ER and once after being admitted and taken to the pulmonary wing. These tests made her jerk her head back so hard that we are convinced this caused her to move too much after her spinal fusion operation and it pulled the hardware loose from its position. We were not able to make it in to see her surgeon until she was four weeks post op from her first surgery; he was very upset that he was never notified about her being admitted, and was concerned that her hardware had shifted. Come to find out after several appointments with primary doctors and pulmonary doctors, she actually did not have pneumonia or the flu while she was in the hospital, and was formally diagnosed with sepsis, which she had no symptoms of while she was admitted.

So, now we have had to endure a second surgery due to all of this only to find out that while the surgeon was performing the operation, he discovered an infection that had completely coated her hardware and spread to her spine, leaving the spacers that had previously replaced the bulging discs, essentially, floating. He ultimately had to remove two vertebrae, the C6 and C7, and replace them with hardware. She now has a "cage" where those vertebrae were, and rods on both sides of her spine to stabilize. She has officially been in a stabilizing neck brace for 12 weeks and now has another 9 weeks! We are now working to prevent any further infection. She is nearly three weeks post op and is doing AMAZING! Especially compared to her prior operation; plus she FINALLY has quit smoking cigarettes after 40 years and is feeling wonderful!!

I could not be more proud of her and her accomplishments . Throughout this journey, I have been the middleman, running her to appointments, calling doctors, doing follow-ups, and I have also even been assigned to change her IV antibiotics six days out of the week. Now, I don't particularly mind doing all of this. I mean, she is my mom! Although, with two toddlers, it's quite difficult to be running around all day long and not being home often. On top of that, I have wifely duties I need to fulfill as well as my motherly duties. What I am trying to get at is that, while it's been a humbling experience, I cannot wait for my mom to heal and be much better because let's face it, it's been hard on everyone, especially her! One thing I am looking forward to is being able to watch my mom spend more time with my babies and know that she is going to be there for them much longer than we could imagine.

I have to give myself credit though. As a young mother, it's been difficult to juggle everything, but around Easter, I began feeling the need to search for God and find a way to incorporate him into my life and it has CHANGED MY LIFE! Being able to give all your worries and sorrows, and even joys to the lord is an amazing feeling and I am blessed that I have found my way to the Lord. Sometimes, it's hard to understand why things are happening in our life, or how to deal with these things happening and I didn't know what to do. I was having anxiety attacks, trouble being patient with my children and my husband, and having a hard time keeping up with all of my duties. I am not a medication person, unless absolutely necessary thoug,h and I knew if I could find a church to make my family's home, I may be able to find what I was looking for and help myself. My 4-year-old daughter was beginning to ask questions anyways, so her father and I were feeling confident with our decision to help explain our faith better. I encourage anyone who may be struggling like I was to see if finding their way to their Lord, any Lord, helps them find what they are looking for!