Well, as you know, my life took a turn for the crazy. I just wanted to sum it all up here and get on with the next chapter of my wild and wonderful life. In January, my husband was rushed to the hospital with a heart issue that ended well with a surgery and he is now back to work and doing pretty good. I honestly forgot that he even had an issue or was ever in the hospital.... because on February 27th we rushed my mom to the hospital with what turned out to be a horrific ordeal.
My mom had a perforated colon. It was misdiagnosed by the ER at Kaiser and was sent home. She also had some chronic constipation issues ( sorry, i know this is an art blog... but this post is really for me. I need to get this all out before I can move along ) ... so in their defense, i think they thought that's what this was. But I do fault them for not going the extra mile and doing a CT. A CT would have saved alot of horrible events. So that was 3 days before. By the time I got to her, she was slumped over and talking jibberish. My dad was not know what to do and pretty much in denial. Who could blame him. So, I called an ambulance. In hindsight... i should have called them much sooner. But instead, i waited until I saw her. She was rushed to the hospital ( not Kaiser, because rush hour traffic would not have got her there fast enough. By about 1am... they realized that she had a perforated colon and it had been that way for a few days and went to sepsis in the brain. I have learned alot about both in the months following.
Long story short... it's been a long ride back to health. I have witnessed things about our health care system that I never want to go through again. What a fiasco. And don't even get me started about caregivers after the fact! It's been a real nightmare. What does matter is that I put my life on hold - thanks to a caring family and a more than generous set of bosses and spent a few months in Los Angeles. It seemed like a lifetime. But my mom has made a miraculous recovery and is doing pretty great right now, if i do say so myself. She has been through hell and back and I guess the best thing I can say about that, is that she doesn't really remember any of it. That's the sepsis part. It's sad in a way and fantastic in another. It was horrible. I wish my dad and I didn't remember as much. But we do. I hired and fired 10 care givers in a week. Finally had my wonderful cousin come in and help out so that I could come back to my life for a few days. She was nothing short of being a life saver.
My parents are now living in Northern California after spending their entire lives in Southern California. They are in assisted living now and not totally happy yet, but I am. My mom went from 108 when she moved in to 114 a few short weeks later. It's the best thing. Getting to this point is something I will never forget. It has definately changed me and my family. But she is with us and that's all that really matters. The weird thing is... I used to be so focused on my art. Focused on getting somewhere with what I am doing. I am not focused at all anymore. I used to draw daily, sometimes more than daily. I pushmyself. Now, i barely pick up a pen and when I do... it feels forced. I feel like rushing to meet deadlines and making plans for writing articles, teaching classes and dreaming of creating new products just isn't as important as what's right in front of me- I think that may change. But for now, I am going to just go with it. Spend time with my folks and spend the summer canoeing. We shall see what happens. I think John Lennon said it best... Life is what happens when you are busy making other plans. True that , John. No more plans for me for now... just life.
