After the Growing Years Part 6

Dad told me that my mom was really sick and "in trouble". She was having "spasms" lasting for hours and rarely slept because of pain etc....and his brother had terminal cancer and only had weeks left. He had gone to see him a few weeks earlier but now....he had his hands full. It was an agonizing decision and horrible choice to make but ultimately my daughter convinced me to go to the greater emergency at that time. And so I packed up my computer, loaded my car and headed out for the 19 hour drive home. I felt horrible. I had left my nearly blind daughter, grandsons and my son in law to basically fend for themselves.

However, by this time I had my daughter in agreement that IF I could convince her pediatric endocrinologist (thank God he had not retired yet) to see her...she would go. I was so hopeful that I could pull this off....

When I got back home to Georgia, I unpacked...slept for 7 hours and then drove 4 more hours south...to my parent's house. My poor husband! Thank goodness he is so understanding and supportive of everything. He had been at our home in Georgia the entire time-ill from kidney failure! But he was managing to go to school and helped by my rock-youngest daughter and her family in my absence.

So....when I got to Dad's I was literally horrified to see the condition of my mother. She only weighed 89 pounds and was in horrible pain. It was like a pharmacy there as she had time lines for what pills when....long story! To summarize...I would be in Georgia all week and drive to Florida to help Dad on weekends. I did this for almost 2 months when finally it became so apparent that Dad would not go against Mom's wishes and force her into the hospital without STRONG persuasion. So that is what I did. I had been at there house for 10 days straight-afraid to leave either of them. Dad was exhausted from being up and down with mom 24 hours a day (she rarely slept and when she did it was usually less than 2 hours at a time). Mom was irrational from pain.
So I told Dad that in the morning....if he had not convinced Mom to go to the hospital- I would call 911 and force her there....Thankfully he was able to convince her by telling her that she was dying!

The next morning she said her goodbye's to my brother and I before leaving for the hospital. She was really that sick.

Long story short...she is still with us today. YAY! It has been a year now. She still battles with some spasms, but is much much better. However, their lives are changed as they are confined to the house for the most part. They do get out some, and dad has some help so he can get out several times each week, but mostly they are at home.

All the while this is going on with my parents, I am still trying to help Missy via the phone and managed to get her an appointment with her childhood pediatric endocrinologist.  It took me almost 11 years to convince her to do this and I was relieved she had agreed and everything was a "go"! To heck with Insurance....I would pay for this man's opinion. He had treated her for years as a child and I knew first hand...he was brilliant!

I flew Missy and her youngest son down for a long weekend coinciding with the doctor's visit. My oldest grandson was in school and stayed with his Dad.

So off we go to the appointment I have been praying for .... for a decade! It took an hour and a half to get there and I was worried that I might be wrong....she may be VERY sick and all of my "theories" about it being a result of not being on growth hormone still as an adult....could be wrong. That would have been a HUGE crow to swallow as I am not a quiet person when I believe something! But my "gut" just kept pressing on that I was not wrong-mother's instincts are so strong!

So anyway, we get to his office after going to the wrong place...who knew he moved his office? It was like old times in his waiting room filled with things for kids...only now my kid- was a mom herself! How weird and desperate were we?!  And so after the normal paperwork etc. we are escorted to the back where we wait in the exam room. It was just a few minutes before this kind face of yesteryear appeared in the doorway. And at that exact instant- I felt peace. I felt a calm that I had not experienced for years....everything was going to be ok. But before he says his normal "hi", he looks at my daughter and says; "what the heck happened to you?"  I guess he was startled at how sick she was!