My Mom called me this morning, at 5:00 a.m. Granted, it was 8:00 a.m. on the east coast and she was just calling me back. I called her earlier in the week to check in. I wanted to answer it, but I had just fallen back to sleep. My dog Bella, she decided she needed to go potty at 4:30 a.m. Jade (my husband) deals with this by yelling at her to go back to bed and his strategy works. For some reason, yelling (sternly talking) and pushing back takes more energy from me - than just getting up and letting her out - so I did.
Rather than answer my Mom’s call I let it go to voicemail. I figured if it were an emergency, I would be the last person she would be calling. I don’t blame her for calling me so early. Part of her stroke impacted her impulsivity and she probably had some free time before going to therapy. Once this is posted, my next item on the ‘To Do’ list . . . call my Mom!
Part 2 left off with her going to her Obstetrician because her stomach was still quite big and firm after giving birth. The Doctor wasn’t too concerned and said to give it time. After waiting a few days, she knew something wasn’t right. . .
“I was getting concerned. I went back to the hospital and after an examination the Doctors discovered that I had a large ovarian cyst. I was admitted to surgery at once. The Doctors had to remove the ovary because the cyst was so large that it had damaged the walls of the ovary.
I had held up pretty good until now. Through Tom’s troubles and Mary’s I had had real lows but now it seemed like too much. Mary still at Children’s Hospital, Tom at home in a cast, Elisabeth back at my parent’s and me here - when would we ever get back to normal? Now emotionally I needed help. Everyone had been so nice and tried to help, but, I knew that I was the only one who could bring myself out of this depression.
As I began to recover, I saw that there was more to be thankful for than I had realized. My roommate in the hospital - a young woman- about 25- had just had a complete hysterectomy - she could never have any children. She seemed to have accepted this fact and showed more concern for me than she did for herself. I admired her spirit and she almost made me feel guilty about being so depressed. I compared my situation with hers. I would recover with no permanent damage, my cyst was benign, the surgeons had performed a miracle on Mary and someday, she too would be fully recovered and healthy, Tom’s knee would heal and of course we had Elisabeth who had gone through this whole thing beautifully as only a child could. I began to think positively. I found that there could still be peace in my mind.
Mary is now celebrating her third birthday. She is a bright, happy little girl and shows no signs of ever having had any problems. Her first year home was full of problems and Doctors, often frustrating, but we did not give up.
Tom, Mary and I all have scars, but, they just remind us that we made it through a hard time together and if we could all make it through that year, no problem now seems insurmountable. It gave us the ability to appreciate so many of the things in life that are taken for granted, even life itself.”