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MY MOM, A SPRY 66 YEAR OLD WIDOW, WAS SCHEDULED FOR SURGERY ON NOV. 9. THIS SURGERY WAS SUPPOSED TO HAVE TAKEN PLACE IN THE SPRING, BUT MOM 'HAD TOO MUCH TO DO.' SHE PUT IT OFF BECAUSE SHE WANTED HER SUMMER. AFTER ALL...SHE HAD JUST PURCHASED HER LIFE'S DREAM...A NEW TRACTOR. SHE WAS TO HAVE AN AORTIC ANEURYSM REPAIRED. A SERIOUS SURGERY, BUT HER HEALTH HAD HELD UP VERY WELL FOR THE PAST SIX YEARS. YOU SEE, MOM IS A LUNG CANCER SURVIVOR. SHE ONLY HAS ONE LUNG. WELL, THE SURGERY WAS NOT A SUCCESS, AS THE DR. FOUND NO PULSE IN HER LEGS IMMEDIATELY AFTER SHE WAS OPERATED ON. SHE WAS RE-OPENED, AND A WIRE WAS PLACED FROM HER THIGHS TO HER FEET IN HOPES OF LOOSTENING ANY BLOOD CLOTS.(SURGERY'S 1 AND 2)
TWO DAYS LATER, HER TOES STARTED TURNING BLACK. SHE WAS GIVEN BLOOD THINNERS TO TRY AND DISSOLVE BLOOD CLOTS. THE BLOOD THINNERS CAUSED INTERNAL BLEEDING AT THE SURGERY SITE, AND SHE HAD TO BE RUSHED BACK TO SURGERY AND RE-OPENED.(SURGERY 3)
OVER A LITRE OF BLOOD WAS DRAINED FROM HER ABDOMEN. THE NEXT DAY, WE WERE HIT WITH THE NEWS THAT SHE HAD GONE INTO ACUTE RENAL FAILURE. HER KIDNEYS WERE NOT FUNCTIONING. DIALYSIS WAS TO BEGIN THE NEXT DAY.THE DAY AFTER HER FIRST DIALYSIS, BOTH HER FEET FROM THE KNEES DOWN HAD TO BE AMPUTATED.(SURGERY # 4) THEY HAD BECOME GANGRENOUS. SHORTLY AFTER, SHE BEGAN SPIKING A DANGEROUSLY HIGH FEVER. (>106.) IT WAS THEN DISCOVERED THAT HER GALL BLADDER WAS SERIOUSLY ENLARGED AND INFECTED. NOT BEING ABLE TO WITHSTAND BEING PUT TO SLEEP AGAIN, A DRAINAGE TUBE WAS PLACED IN HER SIDE (WHILE SHE WAS AWAKE) TO DRAIN HER GALL BLADDER.(SURGERY # 5) THE NEXT DAY, I WAS CALLED AT HOME TO VERBALLY APPROVE THE CHANGING OF HER DIALYSIS PORTS AND THE WIRES GOING TO HER HEART AND LUNGS. THEY HAD BECOME DISLODGED DURING ALL THE OTHER PROCEDURES. (SURGERY # 6) WE WERE TOLD THAT HER CONDITION WAS GRAVE, AND IF THERE WERE OUT OF TOWN FAMILY MEMBERS, WE SHOULD CALL THEM. WE DID, AND WHEN WE WERE ALL TOGETHER, WE PRAYED. AND WAITD. AND PRAYED. WELL, IT'S NOW DECEMBER 3, LESS THAN A MONTH AFTER THE NIGHTMARE BEGAN, AND MY MOTHER IS IN A HOSPITAL ROOM, LAUGHING, EATING, AND MAKING PLANS ON HOW TO DRIVE HER TRACTOR WITH PROSTETHICS. OH. HER RENAL DR. CAME IN THE ROOM TODAY SCRATCHING HIS HEAD. HE SAID "I DON'T KNOW HOW TO EXPLAIN THIS, BUT YOUR KIDNEYS ARE WORKING. THERE WILL BE NO MORE DIALYSIS." MY MOM IS BEING CALLED THE HOSPITAL'S CHRISTMAS MIRACLE. SHE WILL BE HOME FOR CHRISTMAS. (GOD WILLING) WHEN SHE WOKE UP, SHE TOLD US THAT SHE DID,INDEED,GO TO HEAVEN. SHE DESCRIBED WAHT SHE SAW, BUT SAID IT JUST WASN'T HER TIME. SHE SAID WHEN HER TIME DID COME, SHE WOULD NOT BE SCARED, AND FOR US NOT TO WORRY.
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