So, I think we are on track...We moved to San Antonio on June 9th and on July 2nd the kids and I packed up the van and drove back to Illinois for a couple of weeks. Or at least what we thought would be a couple of weeks. :)
We made the drive in 17 hours...and you have no idea how excited I was to see my Mom. I called when we hit Illinois and Katie and her were on the way to the Dr. One of Mom's levels were off, so she had to get some potassium (I think)...when she usually gets this it takes about 4 hours...so we thought we might get to the house before they got back. Katie called when we were about an hour away and said they were headed home, so they would be there when we got there. Yay!!
We got off of 57 onto Curtis Road and MAN did it feel good!!! I was so excited. I had talked to my Mom a lot on the phone, pretty much at least once a day, so I knew she was weak and slept a lot. This was due to her starting chemo, and it was kicking her butt!!! She had called me about 10 days before we got there and told me that her hair was falling out, so I knew to expect that...but really wasn't ready for it. We pulled up in front of the house and Kent was outside waiting on us. He came out and hugged the kids, then Katie came out the garage door to meet us. Mom was following her...and OMG...she looked so weak, like she couldn't even make it 10 feet out of the house. She started bawling as soon as I saw her...I ran to her and just hugged and hugged her. She was down to about 90 lbs, her hair was almost all out, and she was just a shell of the person I knew and loved. She cried and cried, as did I!!! We got her turned around and headed back in the house. She was so tired, we talked for a bit and then she layed down to catch a nap. I got the kids together and we went to get lunch. I called Jason and said "Next time I see my Mom it will be to bury her". That's how different she looked from when we left...I was really scared!!!
We pretty much didn't do much while we were in Illinois...we hung out with Mom and kept her company. She pretty much was on the couch 23 hours a day and the hour she wasn't she was walking to the bathroom to empty her bags or to the kitchen to take her meds for the pain. The pain was unbearable and she didn't sleep much at all while we were there. I got to spend a lot of quality time with her and I am so glad that I did. We went home to spend 4th of July with her since this is her favorite holiday and they always have everyone over. She was not up to everyone coming, so we just had Uncle Rick and Aunt Ann over and we hung out at the house all day. We watched the parade on the TV, which was the first time we ever did that. We had dinner and enjoyed being with family.
So, the kids really wanted to go to the fair at the end of the month...so I talked with Jason and we ended up staying till the 28th. Mom continued to go downhill while we were home. She had trouble eating because of no appetite and keeping food down and she became weaker and weaker. Every night she got up at 3am to take her pain pills. I would get up with her to make sure that she made it into the kitchen. We would sit there and talk for about 30 minutes or so...it was GREAT. The day before we were to leave I was going to take her to chemo. We started out to the car and about 3 steps before I got her there she collapsed and was having a hard time breathing. Thank goodness I had my arm around her, I held her up and finally got her in the car. I told her we were not going back in the house, we were either going to the Dr. or to the ER. I drove over to christie and they said to take her immediately to the ER. I got her over there and they couldn't figure out why she was having trouble breathing, all of those tests came back normal. They did do some bloodwork and they found that she was severly anemic. They admitted her again. So...we were to be leaving the next day and she was going to be back in the hospital when we leave. :(
We did end up leaving again the next day, Mom seemed to be in good spirits and was happy that they were able to give her oxygen and that wasn't an "issue" anymore. We didn't know how long she would be there but it was where she needed to be with her health. Another hard day...leaving her again!!! We ate with the Courtneys and then headed out about 8pm. Man...leaving each time just gets harder and harder.
July was spent in Illinois...and looking back now...I am SO glad!!!! Mom and I got to spend some quality time, and that was something that I will cherish forever!!!!
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