Well, there is one more thing...

Mom was moving pretty slowly; it was the evening following her back surgery. She was sitting on the edge of her bed, the first time fully upright in hours, looking a little pathetic in her little hospital gown, messy hair, and furrowed eyebrows (the result of a wicked headache she'd been fighting all day. The nurse had come to take her to the bathroom before bed, and after a few minutes, she helped her stand and steady herself before walking the short distance to the bathroom. We were trying to problem-solve the headache but weren't really coming up with anything. As Mom hobbled, ever-so-slowly, towards the destination, the nurse said,

"Well, we've given you Thisadol for the headache; a migraine med, actually, so that should have helped. And there's the Thatadol for the pain and the Whatchamadol for the anti-inflammatory, plus the I.V., so I think we have everything covered..."

Mom stops, lifts up her head to meet the nurse's eyes, and says with a grin, "....except for my rear end."

Oops. Almost everything covered...

Scenes from the Recovery Bed

Mom had her back surgery today (Monday), and it went well. I'm typing this as she naps on and off, here next to me. (My sweet sisters, Michelle and Mary, spent the day here, so it's the least I could do.) Mom is good company, so I can't really complain.

She's charming the nurses already. As one took her hand to place a pill in it, Mom instinctively, gently, rubbed the top of the nurse's hand as she spoke to her (before realizing that she had a purpose for the hand-holding.) It was so sweet.

Mom ordered dinner (chicken noodle soup and peaches, which went mostly untouched.) Then she worried, "Do you think they have graham crackers here? I have to have my graham crackers and milk before I go to bed, you know!" (She settled for a nice, big, "homemade" oatmeal raisin cookie.)

Waking up from a brief nap, Mom turned to me and asked, "You know that Tiger Woods changed his name, right? It's now, "Chee-tah!" I laughed pretty hard at that one, so she shared a quip she made recently, at my brother's retirement party,

"I know why my son Jim likes golf so much; as a boy, he just loved playing in the sand and the water!" [As I type this, she admitted she got this one from the newspaper :)]

So, as you can see, she hasn't lost her sense of humor, and I'm pretty sure it's only a matter of time before she's shakin' her hips and singing another goofy song...

She's Going Under the Knife

My mom is having back surgery on Thursday, the 23rd. The complicated name is Bilateral Hemilaminectomy (say that three times fast--it's fun!), but it basically means that her back hurts so much she can't stand upright or walk much, and since she plans to live another 80 years, they're going in! The risks are very low, and recovery is pretty easy, so we're all feeling very confident that she'll soon be pitching her walker to the curb. She'll spend one night in the hospital, and plans to attend Kendall's musical three days later (haha), so we'll see....

That said, since my mom (Elsie, Grandma C) loves it when people talk about her on my blog, I thought I would ask you to leave a little note for her in the comments. I don't know... just some well wishes, or maybe say something about one of the many posts I've written about her here. I'm spending the night with her Friday, and I will have my laptop (and wireless stolen from the neighbors, I hope!) I know your comments will tickle Mom and help in her recovery, so if you'd take the time, we'd both appreciate it.

Thanks!