How I Spent The Past Four Days - In short: I've been texting (to twitter and facebook) and emailing, regarding the status of my Mom after she broke her ankle. Here's the full timeline.

Saturday, April 24, 2010
9:18 AM -- Mom fell and broke her ankle this morning. Sis says Mom's in good spirits about it. Surgery today to put in rods, I'm headed there now.

11:34 AM -- After resetting the ankle, http://twitpic.com/1i4ejf - Mom's current state, pre-surgery

3:27 PM -- My niece visits my Mom: http://twitpic.com/1i6byn - Megan heading to prom, visits Grams

9:28 PM -- Still at hospital, 10+ hrs now. Went for Starbucks 1x. Dr came by, but not surgeon. Likely surgery tomorrow. She's in pain, sleeping now.

9:48 PM -- [Cat] is spending time thusly: http://twitpic.com/1i9vjp - Editing pics, in Mom's hospital room

10:27 PM, Email summary to the family -- Hello family and friends

This morning before 5 am, little kitty wanted to be fed, so Sharon got up and went downstairs. She did not turn on the lights, but then slipped on the last staircase and slid down several stairs, impacting her right foot many times. She broke the ankle and both shin bones (the tibia and fibula), and came to the hospital with the paramedics.They reset the bones (while she was knocked out, of course) and splinted the foot tightly. After several hours, she was put in her own room in the Med Surgery wing (Henry Mayo hospital, Valencia).

They have her on an IV, clear liquids only, and pain meds. So far we've mostly only seen nurses, but one doctor stopped by -- an associate of the surgeon. He's not happy that the surgeon hasn't visited yet, and plans to strong-arm one of the surgeons to visit ASAP. He wants to schedule surgery tomorrow, which they expect will only be about an hour-long procedure.

This evening they also drew blood and wheeled in a portable x-ray to take images of her chest, to make certain her heart is good and strong and up to surgery tomorrow. She's mostly resting, although she is in pain -- the ankle spasms in waves, so sometimes pain is about a 2, other times a 7-9 (on a scale of 1-10).

We'll keep the family in the loop. You are welcome to forward this to other friends and family.

Sunday, April 25, 2010
1:14 AM -- [Cat] Has gotten home safely from hospital, 1:15 AM. Sleep, then go back tomorrow. G'night.

2:45 PM -- Still no scheduled surgery. But different pain med for Mom, and it's totally working. Lots of family visitors today, now they've gone.

3:05 PM -- They just came in to say surgery is scheduled for 6 PM. They'll take her down around 5 or 5:30.

3:18 PM, Email summary -- They just came in to say surgery is scheduled for today, Sunday April 25, at 6 PM (pacific) time. They should be bringing her down sometime between 5-5:30 for her scheduled surgery at 6.

They switched her pain meds from morphine to dilaudid, which is working *wonderfully* for her. She's feeling far less pain, and is sleepy enough to take a nap now. She's had wonderful visitors all morning: Of course her husband Larry, both daughters Jan and Chris/Cat, Jan brought little Jack with her (and he charmed everyone). Megan, Jan's eldest daughter, dropped by with her boyfriend Tim, and they gave us stories about last night's Senior Prom. (Jan's youngest daughter, Kara, is still traveling back home from a choir competition out-of-state yesterday).

Larry's son Robert and his wife Stefanie and their daughter Sara came by, with fragrant roses from their garden. Sara talks a mile a minute, so Cat spent time crawling around playing gymnastic tricks, "I spy with my little eye," and a game of "duck, duck, goose" with just Sara, Cat, and a surgical glove blown up like a balloon. Yes, the balloon played too.

Several people have been able to phone Sharon to chat with her, including Pat, and Sharon's dad Harry. She's been very glad to take calls.

It's been a busy hospital room today. I'm glad the new meds work so well, and she's napping now. Surgery is in three hours.

I'll continue to let you know how things are going. Again, feel free to share this information with other friends and family.

5:14 PM -- Mom has been taken to pre-op. Pops has gone to feed kitty, they wouldn't let him in pre-op. I'm staying, she should be back ~10 PM.

7:22 PM -- I have one of the best sister's ever: She brought me a fresh salad and soda and celery/peanut butter, for dinner

8:44 PM -- My Mom is back from surgery, bright pink cast, and a tiny but out of it. But she's out of surgery. *whew*

8:59 PM, Email to family -- Sharon is back from surgery. She has a lovely bright pink cast, and is (of course) a wee bit drugged out. But she's out of surgery. :)

9:06 PM -- Here it is: http://twitpic.com/1ik0ul - Mom's new (bright pink) cast

10:14 PM Additional Note: -- Mom has been corresponding with some high school students who are studying Vietnam and they are interviewing people who served in one capacity or another. Mom was a civilian volunteer with the Red Cross, which you can read about at http://www.crescentwing.com/donutdollie/. Friday she received another email from her high schooler, and of course hadn't answered the email yet. So I just finished writing her from Mom's email account, with a short summary about Mom's broken ankle. Mom decided we could give her something none of the other students had: A short interview from the daughter of Vietnam veterans. I wrote a nice email about my memories of growing up, and the things Mom shared with me over the years about Vietnam.

10:34 PM -- Mom is sleeping peacefully. Time to head to my sister's house, to do the same. *yawn*

Monday, April 26, 2010
6:00 AM -- Mom's sleeping right now. That's a good sign, I hope. (yesterday this time, she was not well)

7:00 AM -- Mom sounds groggy on the phone, foot feels fine, but may be dealing with nausea right now. Otherwise, not too bad.

9:27 AM, Email to familiy -- Good morning, friends and family! Sharon was sleeping quietly when I dropped in at 6 AM this morning. And two nurses tell me she slept mostly well all night long, with only one pain-med admistered, and not the same bout of nausea as the night before. I phoned from work around 8:30 or so, and she sounded groggy. She tells me she doesn't feel any pain in the foot, but she's worn down and tired, dizzy, and a little bit nauseous. They had to restrict her from no food before surgery, and she managed a little broth, tea, and frozen sorbet when she first came back last night. And when I dropped by, there was a clear soda on her tray from some time in the night.

She should have a visit from the physical therapist some time today. She said she's only up for small visiting groups, not too many people at once.

I'll be visiting later today, and I'll send more updates. Feel free to phone me, if you have any questions.

12:50 PM -- Lunch visit w/Mom: she has a roomie, the PT Dr helped her to the walker & bathroom 1x, walking made her sick. "Baby steps," she says.

Additional note: I brought a printout of the Vietnam email I wrote last night, so that Mom could read it when I visited her at lunchtime. She was asleep when I finished the email, so I couldn't read it to her last night. She really liked the email. She thinks her corresponding student will really like it, too.

8:37 PM, Email to family -- Time for your Monday updates. :)

Today, Sharon was able to (with help) get up twice with her walker, once for the stationary "commode facilities" and once to make it all the way to the real bathroom. The effort was noticable in her arms and chest muscles later, but she was quite proud of her efforts.

Her doctor came by while Larry and I were here. He's pleased with her progress so far, although he did say she's likely to be here a few more days. He's not certain whether she should still consider the Alaska cruise she originally planned for 3 weeks from now, but suggested that she might know best on discharge day whether she could handle the trip.

A friend came by with a crocheted shawl made by some of the ladies at a local church: a literal Prayer Shawl that they made for her. She tells me it's the exact same colors as her first crocheted afghan, from when I was a child. Another couple of ladies brought some magazines around for patients, and one of them happens to be part of that very same crochet / prayer group from the church. What a small world.

She's having some efforts eating--not all the foods are appealing. The dinner entree wasn't very recognizable (it might have been chicken in a breaded coating), but the rice was flavorful and our favorite afternoon nurse found her a 2nd helping before he left at the end of her shift. She thinks that maybe tomorrow she'd like to have a milkshake. *grin*

She's still enduring a little bit of nausea, but the pain meds and the nausea meds are very effective. She tried to wait as long as possible for meds this afternoon/evening, just to see if she could. But after dinner, she was just as happy to have the pain meds, nausea meds, and a nice attempt to sleep.

The weekday nurse didn't want to allow me to stay after visiting hours, but she's only warned me the one time and hasn't kicked me out yet. We'll see how late I can be the quiet little mouse in the corner. *grin*

More tomorrow! (As always, please feel free to forward this to other friends or family.)

4/26 11:50 PM -- Have I mentioned lately how much I adore my friends and family? Thank you all! It is AMAZING how much I love you!

Tuesday, April 27, 2010
4/27 7:57 AM -- txt from Mom: "Just talked to the surgeon, he says it looks good. I see him in his office 2 weeks, maybe go home tomorrow."

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Today's Blessing That I'm Thankful For: My Mom. My Family. My Friends.