Day 52: Mom

Last January, my Mom was admitted to the hospital because she was having a hard time breathing. The following day she went down with code blue respiratory arrest. The staff revived her, but she was on life-support. I flew in to Seattle and my sweet friend took me the 120 miles to my parents town. Lisa, my older sister, drove up from Portland. We listened to the doctors tell us about mom's condition, that she was currently on life-support, and that they would monitor her. She was under a lot of sedation, because she kept trying to pull the tubes from her throat. The doctors didn't think she would live through the night. The following day, I called JE and my other sister, Tia and her sweetheart and asked them to come up.

The Doc said we, as a family, needed to decide if mom was going to have a permanent trache put in with constant life support, or if we thought she would want us to pull the plug. Tough choice. We figured no one would want to live like that, so we opted to pull the plug.

We gathered around mom when they took her tubes out. She was lucid, but weak and her throat hurt. She asked for Popsicle. As the day wore on, she got stronger and stronger. When she asked for her 13th Popsicle of the day, the nurses decided that perhaps they should take her blood sugar levels. She continued to gain strength until she was released from ICU and put into a regular hospital room. We never saw that doctor again.

She and Dad live in a little one bedroom apartment. I spoke with her tonight as JE and I walked on the beach in Laguna Beach. She is doing better, it was a great conversation.


Today in church JE walked by where I was sitting. I jumped up and started following him. Right before he went into the classroom, I grabbed his seat with both hands. He turned slowly, looked at me and smiled. "I'm just glad that was you..." he said. He thought I was someone else for a moment, and was really hoping I wasn't anyone else.

After church we came home and made a salad:

Bruschetta Salad

3 parts grape tomatoes, halved
2 parts avocado, cubed
1 part kalamata olives, halved
1 part onion, sliced thin
1 part fresh basil leaves, torn
2 parts mozzarella, cubed
2 parts Croutons

Add to taste:
garlic, crushed
olive oil
balsamic vinegar
grated parm or Romano cheese
salt and pepper
The croutons made this salad especially yummy!


This weeks plan:

Monday, Wednesday, Friday
Warm up/walk 10 min, Run 30 min, working in 3 sets of 1 minute sprints. Cool down 10 min)
Cycle commute when accessible
15 push-ups, 25 crunch sit ups, 15 body weight squats, and 12 lunges, each leg. Keep good form and if you feel good, do THREE sets!


Tuesday Thursday--hopefully a pool somewhere will be open, otherwise RUN!!! Or Yoga
Warm up/easy swim Freestyle 600 yards (15 laps) Cool down 100 yards (4 laps)
Yoga when Pool is unavailable
Cycle to and from work 7-10 miles each way
10-15 minutes basic flow yoga, 15 steps up, 12 reverse lunges, 20 crunch sit ups – if you feel good, do THREE sets!