Tuesday, September 20, 2005

Resurrection

Mom sailed out the hospital doors today, chatting happily and wearing the pink hat. No crowd of photographers recorded the event--they vanished on Friday after Britney and baby were discharged.
But jaws dropped, nevertheless. Anyone who saw her vegetative state on Friday or Saturday, or even part of yesterday, couldn't believe she was dressed and out of that hospital bed.
Was the sleepiness and slurred speech we saw then just her slowness to metabolize the anesthesia from the surgery on Wednesday evening? Or was it one of those Lewy Body states where, on some days, the brain just doesn't seem to boot up? Or was it the Remeron? She talked with her eyes closed, barely able to wake up enough for her meals.
Anyway, her blood was thin enough today (INR 2.0) that the doctor okayed her to leave. Yesterday I was praying that she would be awake and alert when the doctor came by to make the decision, and she was.
By 3 pm her caregiver Jona and I were giving her a shampoo in her room at Ocean View Assisted Living. By 5 pm she was in the dining room in her wheelchair, happy to be back at the table with the other residents.
Why didn't she collapse into a stupor from the effort of getting out of bed for the first time in 8 days, getting dressed, and enduring a shampoo and set?
I don't know--but I am going to take a planned, but shortened, drive to Colorado before anything else happens.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

u could always make like a b-lister and pay a photog 2 record u all day for publicity purposes

A Linstatter said...

Yes, a documentary... a day in the life of Grandma.