Update, Friday, December 9th

I know this is my first blog posting for this blog...but I need to start somewhere, and will back track as I can.  But my family and I have had a large request for updates on mom, and it's hard to remember everyone!  Between the phone calls, the text messages, the e-mails, the facebook messages, the food, the cards, and all the prayers, we are just overwhelmed by the outpouring of love and concern for our mom!  I mean, we adore her to pieces, she is our mom...but it's amazing to realize how many other people do!  We do not want to leave a single, amazing person out of updates!

But as of this evening (Friday night, December 9th), Mom is doing FANTASTIC!!!!!!!  She has been transferred out of the ICU unit at Wake Forest and into a private room!  We are so thankful for this for so many reasons!  First, it's a great sign that she is improving!  Second, visitation in the ICU was strict and allowed for only two people at a time...which is so hard when so many people want to see her (what a great problem to have!!!!) Third, with so much sadness and sickness in an ICU, the move to a private room will have a more uplifting environment and allows visitors!!!  She is expected to be in the hospital for another week.

Mom is doing fabulous, and while not back to her old self yet (you know, cleaning, cooking, organizing, working, sewing, etc)...she is still sweet and thoughtful as ever! Offering to share her Jello with us, asking how people are doing, and saying cute things like "I've caused quite the stir!" She is able to move arms and legs.  She is as sharp as a tack (Mom, why do you have to do these breathing exercises? asks Chris.  And she provides appropriate response about aveoli and avoiding pneumonia.) She recalls all pets names, family names, and of course is concerned about Samuel!  We are thankfully to the point where we can get a chuckle or two as well!  Today the doctor asked her the ages of her children, and while she can't get them quite right (I just had my 31st birthday and she thinks i'm 27...I might stick to her time frame), we all had to laugh when asked how old my dad is!  She looked at him, and said in a very serious manner, You are OLD!  And when asked how old she is...she said 27 :0)  Just the smile we all needed! 

We also had to laugh at ourselves when dad and I arrived this morning. Mom was confused about things, and didn't recognize me (she can remember from October and before fine, but things that are more current aren't clicking right now). I got my hair cut really short, so she didn't recognize me!  But she kept insisting to me and dad that the pastor and his wife were there this morning and visited her.  We thought she had memories from before the surgery on Tuesday, and kind of just nodded and said, sure, sure, they are here.  Well, mom was persistent, so I asked dad to go to the waiting room and give Rodney a call.  When he went to the waiting room, there sat Rodney and his wife!  They had been there the whole time!!!  And here we thought mom was really losing it :0)

She is displaying some short term memory loss.  At this point, we don't know if it is from all the anesthesia she has been under, because of the pain killers she is on, or because of some brain injury from being coded for so long.  Depending on who you talk to, depends on the answer you get. She is mainly confused as to the day of the week and why she is in the hospital.  However, she is very aware of Christmas being around the corner and wanting to get home to do her Christmas shopping!  But, she shows signs of improvement from just this morning!

Mom's pain is being managed through an epidural.  She is on a liquid diet, and while avoiding the the yellow jello, she does great with the water, juices, and soda!

Time for the good stuff...the thank you for thinking of us and loving us!

Vee Quick, Thank You to the wonderful person who made the adorable Snowman Hat!  It is already displayed in her room!  Festive and cute!  Perfect!  THANK YOU!  Rodney and Nedra brought it today! 

Rodney and Nedra, thank you so much for the visit today!  It was mom's favorite thing to talk about today! It was so sweet of you to take time out of your busy schedule and visit with her!  She loved it...and we did too!

Also, thank you to the staff at the Redeemer School here in Winston-Salem for the wonderful food!!!  It was so thoughtful and very, very much appreciated!

Thank you to Justin and Betsy (Chris and Isaac's neighbors) for feeding us tonight!  The taco soup was amazing!  The food warmed our bellies, and the gesture warmed our heart.  Samuel especially loved it!

Thank you to the 4A Intensive Care Unit at Wake Forest Baptist!  Amazing care!  Thank you for taking care of our mom over the past four days, and for explaining everything to us!!!

And of course, thank you to everyone for your continued phone calls, thoughts, and  prayers! Mom has made so much progress, she is so amazing. We still have a way to go though!

I will have my siblings start posting too...we have postings to write about from the past four days.  A lot has happened, but at this point we are just so thankful for our mom being here!