Javalina and I sat around for awhile, I used the bathroom there which was very clean, then I called my brother, they were about five minutes away by now. We went out to wait for them, I explained where to pull in instead of going to the guard station. They pulled in and my sister jumped off and hugged me, tearing up as she saw me. Of course, I love my mom and dad, but I live three hours away, my sister is the baby and she is like connected at the hip with my mom, when they come to visit, my sister calls her every hour or so. I like to joke that my mom still wipes my sister's butt when things are in a better state, they are that close, I mean she built her house behind my parent's, even my brothers are there daily with her, the middle brother lives next door, and my younger brother lives at home with my folks. Something happening to my mom would totally destroy her, so of course she was barely hanging on when she arrived.
We all talked for a bit, I gave them my update I had gotten, that she had arrived and she was in the operating room. After a while, we went back inside, same procedure, you have to call to be let in. The same guard noticing that the rest of my family had arrived called me over and he called again to the hospital. He got us a number to call and that she had been moved to a room and to call the number, the doctor was there to give us an update. I offered the number to my sister, but she said for me to call that she wouldn't be able to keep it together and talk coherently. I was trying to pass the buck as I felt the same way, I don't want to hear bad news, but I am the older one. I called, a nurse answered and we got the doctor right away. She said they had to intubate her because she had a lot of swelling, this would make sure she could continue getting oxygen, even if her swelling choked off her ability to breath. We asked if there were any broken bones or if she would need surgery. She said no, but there was a hematoma to worry about, it might need to get drained if it didn't go down on its own within a couple days. This made me feel better.
I think we all breathed a sigh of relief although things can still go to shit, there is Covid-19 lurking in every corner now, something unforeseen, but at least the initial fear slowly subsided. The doctor took as much information as my sister could muster. She had an extensive list of medicines my mom takes, I didn't even realize she took so many things. She mentions Enbrel or something like that, for her arthritis, and maybe another medicine every now and then, but my sister had a list of like 10 different meds. I kind of joked, shit mom is a junky, but most of them did say took at this point, or maybe took once. I don't know how my sister even had this list, but the doctor thanked her. The most worrisome part was when the doc asked if she has fallen before and the falls do start to add up and sound suspicious. I mean she fell off the back of their pick-up after trusting a plastic chair that gave way and broke as she used it as a step ladder, one of the fucking men in the house should have been unloading the stuff from the back of the truck, but... then twice she has tripped in her room which is admittedly crowded by the king sized bed which takes up too much space. I think she tripped on blankets on the floor but fell once into the closet which clothes broke her fall and another time she fell into a pile of clothes on the floor.
One would maybe think she has trouble with her balance, but I think she really needs Adderall for her ADHD or whatever keeps her constantly going. She cannot sit still and that is part of what upsets me when trying to have a conversation with her when I call. It's always "oh, look, the dog is doing this or the grandson just did that..." I am always on the other end of the line trying to snap my fingers like "Hey! Focus! I am trying to tell you some story about my kids, I give two shits about the dog right now." My sister says the same, like when they try to sit and watch a movie, my mom won't sit still, she'll find something better to do. I think a good start to helping the situation is if they just really declutter the house. Get rid of stuff to open up the spaces. I like my other brother's point when they suggest throwing this or that... "no, but that belonged to my great aunt and she used to drink her cocoa from that cup..." or "no, I can't throw that rusted old bed frame in the backyard, it belonged to my great grandfather." Not making fun of my mom, but everything becomes special when you attach sentimental feelings to it and pretty soon, you are just a hoarder.
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