NAO 7 - Interrupted!

No sense putting this part off: the wife and I drank last night. I didn't succumb to an overwhelming need, I just decided that I wanted to drink and the wife was happy to go along. We'll likely drink tonight as well, as my sister and her husband are in town, but we've agreed that we know now that we can go without drinking during the week, and we'll continue to do that going forward. We'll see how long that lasts. ("During the week" is defined as Monday through Thursday when we both have to work the next day. Holidays and Vacations excluded.)

The reason my sister and her husband are in town is because our mother took a turn for the worse Thursday morning. The care center she's in called my sister and told her that mom was unresponsive and vomiting, and that they were having her sent to the hospital. R and D started packing immediately but were also waiting for more information before leaving.

Over the next few hours we got disturbing news about mom's condition: still unresponsive, extremely low blood pressure which they weren't able to stabilize with transfusions, and fecal matter and blood present in the vomitus. All of which painted a pretty grim picture for mom.

R and D got into the area late Thursday night, and her last message to me was that mom was stable, and she'd let me know more of what she found out the next day. I had to work yesterday, and there wasn't a lot I could do for mom if I were there, but I did leave early yesterday afternoon to join R and D with mom at the hospital.

It turns out that her primary issues were (are) bowel compaction due to constipation, and dehydration. The doctor told us that the fecal matter and blood in her vomitus was actually just trace amounts, and not indicative of internal bleeding or any of the other really bad things we'd been warned of that could be the problem. Once they got fluids in her she stabilized and her blood pressure went up to a much more normal level. Mom was sleeping when I got to the room, and would wake up for a moment or two before drifting off back to sleep.

Around 3 pm yesterday a therapist came in to give mom breathing treatment, which involves using a mask to force vapor from Alburteral into her lungs. Mom put up with that for about 10 minutes before starting to become agitated, which then moved to "combative" (she grabbed the therapists hand holding the mask over her face and forced it away.) From that point on she remained agitated for the rest of the time that I was there.

Mom hasn't been very communicative for the past four or five weeks when we go to visit her. She'll say "hello" and answer simple, yes-or-no questions, but she doesn't initiate dialogue. She was much the same way yesterday, but when I told her that I was going to have to go get the wife (we still only have the one vehicle for now) and that I love her, she said "I love you too." 

About a half hour later R texted that mom had become more agitated, taking a swing at her (but missing) and screaming "shut up shut up shut up!" Mom's doctor ordered that someone be with mom at all times so that she doesn't get out of bed or rip off her IV lines, so when an attendant go there R and D left. R was upset, but it's not her first rodeo dealing with mom.

Anyway, I was tempted to drink Thursday night when all of this came up, but decided against it. Sometime Friday morning, when I decided I'd leave work once I got some things I needed to do done, I also decided that I would have a drink or two that night. It felt like the right time, and though I didn't complete the full month I feel like we accomplished at least having better control over it. Maybe that's all denial, though.

I still haven't heard the final decision from the insurance company of the guy who caused the wreck last Friday. Monday evening the adjuster called me and had me recount the events of the accident while she recorded me. Afterward, she told me that she was still waiting to get statements from the lady I hit and their customer, and then they'd contact me about their determination of their liability. 

I'm almost resigned to hearing that they decided they aren't liable since their customer didn't hit anyone. The lady I hit, as far as I know, didn't run into any of the pallets, so the insurance people may decide that I was travelling too close and failed to stop in time. My argument is that I'd just merged onto the highway when the events took place and had no time to establish safe following distance, but that may fall on deaf ears. 

Now that NAO has ended, I don't know how much motivation I'll have to continue updating. I'll probably try to update on mom and how the insurance thing works out, but I can't promise anything. I do thank you all for indulging me my soapbox while reading my posts, and know that I love you all!