Sandwiched

Well, Mom’s angioplasty went very well. They cleared out one of February’s stents that was clogged (due to it’s position on a curve, the cardiologist explained), and gave her three new ones, for a grand total of eight.

Her recovery is going well so far. The only hiccup was last night, when she became really short of breath. It sounded scary when I talked to her! They stopped her IV fluids, gave her a breathing treatment of Albuterol, and put her on Lasix, which helps rid the body of excess fluid. It worked, and she sounds a lot better this morning.

I spent the whole day at the hospital Tuesday, and Mom gave me yesterday off. So I took the kids to a local wave pool all afternoon. It was so fun! Beautiful weather, splashing kids…it actually felt like summer.

Today, I’m calling in yet another favor from a friend and dropping my kids at her place for a playdate so I can get to the hospital. In the meantime…laundry.

Off to the hospital to hang with Mom. They’re scheduled to do her cardiac catheterization today at 11 am. Hopefully they’ll fix the heart without taking out her kidneys. If you’re the praying kind, toss one upstairs for Chiquita.

And me. 

Still feeling squished. Like a five-day old sandwich now. Wilted lettuce, top slice of bread getting moldy.

Yesterday morning I ran a few errands, one of which was taking the kids to a play at our local library.  While I was there, apparently Mom’s doctor tried to reach me. The one place in town that doesn’t have cell phone reception. When I called home, my husband told me that he had called.

“Which doctor was it?”

“Ummm…he didn’t say.”

“Did he leave a message?”

“No.”

Nice. Very helpful. I’ve been carrying this cell phone on my hip for days in case someone calls, and the one time they do, I’m out of range.

I call mom’s hospital room. No answer.

Did she code? Emergency surgery? More tests? WHAT??!??

I call my sister to see if anyone tried to reach her. No. But she offered to call the nurse’s station and find out.

She calls me back. They took her for a CAT scan. I remember that when I had talked to Chiquita earlier that morning, she’d mentioned that she had a little blood in her urine again. They must be looking for more information.

I sighed, and decided to continue with that morning’s plans. I met my family for lunch at Eat N Park. My husband took the girls home so I could head to the hospital. I called back to see if I could reach Mom or her doctor. No luck.

When I got to the hospital, Mom was in good spirits. I let her nurse know that I’d never connected with the doctor. He told me that her blood count had dropped that morning, and that the doctor had ordered a transfusion of two units of blood. While I was there, the weekend cardiologist stopped in. He said that it looked like she’d be scheduled for a heart catheterization on Monday. They suspect that one or more of her stents (she has 5) may be occluded due to being off the blood thinners for that week.

What he didn’t have to tell me, however, is that this catheterization may (probably will?) take out her kidneys. The dye that they use is tough on the kidneys, and she’s only operating at 50% at best.

Save the heart, or the kidneys?

Not much of a choice.

I’m feeling a little extra sandwiched today. Here’s the update: Mom’s back in the hospital. Took her in Tuesday afternoon (just a week after she came home from the hospital) at the cardiologist’s recommendation after she had complained of chest pains the night before and had vomited at lunch (in the communal dining room. Mortifying!) that day. Since then, they’ve found that the bladder infection that put her in the hospital the week I was on vacation affected her kidneys. They slowed down, not filtering her blood as efficiently. That resulted in a high potassium level and an elevated level of one of the the cardiac enzymes (which caused the nausea). Also contributing is a little dehydration. Not helping is the fact that they took her off blood thinners when her bladder was bleeding; she was due to begin them again the day after I took her in again.

So the idea is that once her kidneys recover from the “insult” from the infection and all the medications kick in (the blood thinners, potassium meds, etc.), they’ll watch her labs to make sure that all her docs (heart, kidney and GP) are happy with the numbers before they release her.

Whew!

In the meantime, life at home must go on. I’ve arranged playdates for the girls the last three days so I could get to the hospital. Yesterday, I took dinner to a friend of mine who’s recovering from breast cancer surgery. Today, friends from the Washington, D.C. area are coming in to stay overnight. So I took today “off” (from the hospital anyway) to clean the house. It’s no small feat, since it hasn’t had much attention lately due to Chiquita’s 2 hospital visits, the last weeks of school and our vacation.

I’m wiped out.

It feels like my summer hasn’t even started yet…I haven’t had the chance to get the girls on the schedule I’d envisioned (summer bridge workbook, reading and chore enforcement daily, swimming as often as possible, library once a week, visits to museums and amusement parks).

On the bright side, I did lose 3.6 lbs this week at Weight Watchers. I’ve been running so much, I haven’t had time to stop to eat!

I’m trying to remember that this is a marathon, not a sprint. I’ve made a point to have healthier foods around, to ask for help when I need it, to take time to talk (vent) to friends (sometimes via text message and Twitter), and to exercise (taking the stairs at the hospital) and stretch (yoga stretches in the emergency room!).

Hi guys!

Well, it’s official. Blog Nosh magazine is up and running live. And yours truly is an editor! (Though I have yet to earn my stripes; I haven’t gotten a submission published yet. Soon!)

Stop by and check out the site. It’s an online magazine of some of the best archived blog posts selected by editors in fourteen different channels. The content is captivating, the graphics are luscious, and the editor-in-chief (Megan of Velveteen Mind fame), is excellent.

See you there!

Last week I put a pot on our electric stove to boil. Apparently there was something on the burner, because once it got hot, I saw the flicker of flames underneath the pot.

“Oh, fire!” I said. The kids looked up. After a full day of being “booooo-red,” finally something interesting.

As I reached up into the spice cabinet next to the stove, my husband reached over to the pot and pulled it off the burner.

Phfooomp! Up reached the flames, energized by the new oxygen. They licked up to the range hood, threatening the cabinets above.

(You’d think he would’ve known better, having studied SCIENCE most of his life; he has a Ph.D. in nuclear engineering).

I pulled out my trusty salt and dumped it onto the flames until they extinguished. Unfortunately, I used my good kosher salt, because it was handier than my table salt.

“Oh, my good salt!” I had said to myself.

“Oh, my good HOUSE!” I said back, and began to pour.

Anyway, that’s a little trick that DEFINITELY worked for me this week. Thanks, Mom, for always telling me to keep the container of salt near the stove.

The Four Day Win: End Your Diet War and Achieve Thinner Peace by Martha Beck

My review

rating: 5 of 5 stars
After losing and regaining the same 60 lbs twice (not counting all the attempts in between), I finally concluded that the key to taking weight off and keeping it off can’t be just working out and eating right.

It had to be something psychological. Maybe something hardwired. Something I couldn’t quite put my finger on.

Martha Beck’s book showed me where exactly to put my finger, so to speak. She covered a myriad of obstacles that present themselves along one’s weight loss journey.

And blessedly, she encourages the reader to adopt each healthier habit very slowly, by setting “ridiculously easy goals” and building upon them.

This, I can do. It’s ridiculously easy!

I’m on day four of my first four day win.

Martha, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful relationship.

View all my reviews.

Picture this:

After dinner. Kids are upstairs. Naked. Water running for bath.

Four-year-old screaming in full meltdown because she didn’t get a cookie.

Dog gets loose. Runs upstairs. Runs downstairs with daughter’s stuffed animal clenched in his jaw. Big Sis screams.

Repeat three times. While Little Sis melts down.

Dog spots cat.

Dog chases cat through house.

Kids scream.

Dog barks.

Adults holler.

Cat hisses. Hides beneath dining room table.

I chase dog around dining room table eight times. Call for reinforcements.

We wrestle dog out of room.

Cat sighs.

Dog runs back upstairs. Appears back downstairs with another stuffed animal.

We wrangle him back to his spot in the family room. Little Sis continues melting.

My ears bleed.

It’s been a crazy couple of days! Here are the bullet points:

Mom was released from the hospital yesterday (after my keys got locked in my car and my husband came home early to unlock it). The scope of her bladder was clear except for a raging bladder infection. She was put on antibiotics and has to wear a foley catheter for a month, but she’s at home. A nurse is (supposed to be) checking on her daily. Though mom mentioned today that the nurse wanted me to do her job twice a week. We’ve been through this before….

The AC is fixed. Yay! Just in time for a cold snap: it’s been in the 60s this week!

I’m still on Weight Watchers; I only gained 0.4 lbs over our vacation. And I ate ice cream almost every day! Of course, I did walk all over Walt Disney World, plus a good amount of swimming. And I tried to watch my portions.

Also, I teamed up with my next-door neighbor for a friendly WW competition: For each pound we lose over the course of a month, we’ll each earn one hour of babysitting from the other. So if I lose 5 and she loses 8, she’ll watch my kids for 5 hours and I’ll watch hers for 8. We can use them right away or bank them. Plus, we decided that 14 hours equals one sleepover! Plus, when I reach my first 10% goal, I’ve got my eye on a sweet little iPod nano.

Took the girls to their first summer tumbling class today. The liked it, but I was a nervous wreck! They had my four-year-old trying back walkovers, or something! Anyway, they looked a little uncoordinated compared to the other girls, but it was only their first day. It’s a pretty serious gym dedicated to tumbling and cheering. So far, so good….

And met with my book group tonight. It was fun…a bit of girl talk, a bit of coffee (or in my case, a chai tea latte), a bit of book discussion (Around the Bloc).

I’ve been running since 6:30 am, and I’m done. Time to snuggle on the couch with my husband and Jon Stewart!

Just pulled in this afternoon from our Florida vacation. We spent a long weekend in Sarasota at Lido Beach with friends, and then drove over to Orlando to stay with my in-laws for a week in their timeshare. We did three days at Walt Disney World (Magic Kingdom, Epcot and Hollywood Studios). In short, we’re wiped out.

Plus, I got a message from my sister that my mom ended up in the hospital early Wednesday morning. Severe abdominal pain and bleeding. Taken by ambulance. She’s okay now; her bladder was blocked by a blood clot, apparently, resulting in the pain. Once they put in the catheter, she felt much better. But today (Sunday) was the first day that she hasn’t bled. I talked to the urologist from Hollywood Studios (how surreal!), and he’s planning to scope the bladder sometime tomorrow. So tonight I’m off to Mom’s place to pack her a bag, get her glasses, and take them over to her.

Oh, and we’ve come home to a house without air conditioning. Great!