My Mom had a Heart Attack. It's getting easier to say that and to type it. It doesn't seem as strange as it did. And it doesn't scare me or freak me out quite as much as it did a couple of weeks ago.
On August 18th I got a late night call from my Dad that they were heading out to the Emergency Room. They thought she might be having a heart attack. It was a pretty horrible night for me, though I think in most ways it was far worse for Mom and Dad. I was just scared and worried and feeling too far away from my family. Dad was beyond scared and Mom was in a lot of pain and, well, having a heart attack.
But she's doing okay. The cardiologist told her that it was "big but aborted". So, apparently she was going to have a doozy of a heart attack if she hadn't gotten to the hospital as soon as she did. But she did get there quickly and they stopped it and put a stent in and cleared the artery that was 100% blocked. And gave her one of the biggest, ugliest hematomas the hospital has seen. I think she's kind of proud of it. After looking at the photo of it, I'm mostly just grossed out by it.
They kept telling her conflicting things about what the damage might be but it mostly seemed good. She felt fine aside from bruising and having just gone through a major trauma and all. She was talking and moving around. She was actually conscious the whole time of the attack. And her heart was functioning fine once they cleared the artery. They even released her from the hospital on the 21st. And she managed to walk the 43 (or is it 42?) steps up to the house on her own.
And then she had her follow-up appointment on the 27th which eased our minds a great deal. She still has one artery that's 50-60% blocked, but they can take care of that in early October or so. But it looks like there was little to no serious damage. Which is amazing and wonderful. She's got to get the nuclear imaging stress test thing (I'm not so good with the medical terms) done, hopefully at the end of this month. And then they'll really know what's going on. But it seems like good news for the most part. Really, after the initial bad news that she was having a heart attack, just about everything else has been good news. And she keeps promising me that she feels fine.
She's cut back on smoking a great deal and the plan is to eventually be free of the cigs. I think. Dad's been getting into the job of chef/nutritionist looking for all sorts of low-salt, low-cholesterol foods for the two of them. And I think he's losing weight. And she is too. So I've sorta decided if they can do it, I should too. Actually, aside from my age I think I'm the most at risk for a heart attack amongst the three of us. And maybe even if you take my age into account.
But Mom's building up her strength and is pretty much back to business as usual. Though things will really be back to normal once the insurance mess is worked out and we find out who her cardiologist will be, once she gets the stress test and once this other artery is cleared. Then we can really breath a sigh of relief and get her going on with the rest of her life.
But, I'm still a little worried. You know? I wanted to fly out there right away. But Dad said to wait until she got out of the hospital, since surgery wasn't required and all. And then he said he'd rather I came when he was heading back to work, so Mom could have company for an extra week or so and ease into having her chef away more often. So, I'm heading to Hawai'i on Saturday. And I'm so excited. I just can't wait to hug her and to see for myself that she's really okay. That she's really going to be around for another 40-50 years or more. And to check out the hematoma. So, future blogging will probably be from the islands. With my Mommy. I'll make her say hi.
Thursday, September 09, 2004
Having Fun and Napping
Okay, for those of you who keep coming here on a search for the meaning of the various colors of 'sex bracelets', I am not your source. But a word of advice, if you need or even want bracelets to tell you when, how, and with whom to have sex you really shouldn't be having sex. I wore rubber bracelets as a little girl because they were pretty and cool and stretchy. And because I wanted to be Madonna (ask my mom to see the pictures, she'll show you). There is no other reason for these bracelets. Seriously. Sex because a bracelet told you to? Come on. Either you're in grade school and probably shouldn't be having sex because you're in grade school, or you're an idiot and probably shouldn't risk reproducing quite yet. And probably wouldn't be any good in bed anyway.
Anyway, I have been neglecting the blog because I've been having fun and napping. Aren't y'all jealous? And I don't actually consider napping fun so those are two different things I'm talking about. I find sleep to be a huge time suck. But my body demands it. And when I've gone too long with too little, I have to nap. Tragic. At least I have cats to nap with which makes it seem a little bit less of a waste.
So, on the 1st I headed off to Muffy and Steph's to check out Hawaii. It was not good. Oh no, it was not. But we had a blast. I had on an Aloha Shirt. Muffy was wearing a big fake flower. Steph made mai tais. We gorged on pasta. We got drunk. Good times. Really, it's the show's fault. Steph thought a drinking game was in order. We drank to the mention of virgin sacrifice. We drank to the mention of Ohana (though I was okay with the use of pau). We drank to the ridiculousness of the big red bathtub in the ridiculously large apartment for a building of that type. We drank to all kinds of nonsense and it was good. And the show, while bad, was not as bad as I thought it might be. The boys are pretty and I like a lot of the location shots (though going from Waikiki to "Kalani" (what, you can't pronounce Kalaniani'ole?) Highway in two seconds was kinda funny. Hee. The one on the 6th I think had a scene from Keneke's where we sometimes stop for plate lunch on the Circle Island Tour so that was amusing to me. So I will keep watching. And will keep waiting for the day when a good show films in Hawai'i. Some day. I do like it better than North Shore. Though North Shore has a couple pretty boys as well. But fewer cool location shots and far fewer locals. I so don't count Jasmine Trias. Because she annoys me.
Oh, and last Wednesday and Thursday I did get to work from home. Which was excellent. I cleared off TiVo and watched lots of sad movies. Because that's apparently my trend right now. I watched Midnight Cowboy which was good, but depressing as hell. I was kind of annoyed though. I figured I'd work some and clean some and putz around and do chores and nap in my hammock and all that but instead I pretty much did work freaking all day both days. So annoying. I guess I was wrong about me not ever being able to be a productive telecomuter.
Friday I went out with Iolanthe and Lovey for dinner and a movie after work. The plan had been to grab Indian food and see Vanity Fair. But I didn't pay attention to the emails clearly enough and wasn't sure where the restaurant I was thinking of was actually located. And the Indian place Iolanthe looked up wasn't where it was supposed to be. So we wandered down 9th Avenue until we hit Turkish Cuisine. And had that. Which was good. With lots of fun chatter. Then, we get to the theater only to learn that Iolanthe had been lied to!!!! Vanity Fair was playing at 7PM but not 7PM and 7:30PM as we had thought. So, we wandered across the street to the AMC (one of my fave NYC movie theaters because I love capitalism and comfy seats) and ended up catching We Don't Live Here Anymore. It was well done and beautifully acted and depressing as hell. Because that was becoming my new theme. Then we chatted in the theater until it was about time for the movie to start again. Heh.
Saturday was a blast. Charlotte, Muffy, Steph and I met up at The Pink Tea Cup for bunch. They had really good grits and decent biscuits and good corn fritters. Sadly I did not order the fritters and only got a bite of one. It's a tiny place and we timed it well so no waiting. Because we rock. Of course we finished early with an hour before our Scavenger Hunt. Heh. Charlotte had done one before though work and liked it and suggested one for us. We were doing the Greenwich Village TV & Movie Hunt. We got a list of 22 questions as well as a Polaroid camera and 9 photo tasks. We then get two hours to answer as many of the questions and take as many of the photos as we could. It was insanely dorky and a ton of fun. The questions send you to movie & tv locations and you try and find the answers to questions. The questions do at least direct you to a specific block which is nice. And most of the questions weren't too hard, but weren't all ridiculously easy either. Ed's Shirt managed to join us but wasn't much help. We were going like crazy for the first hour but by the last half hour the heat was really kicking our butts and we kinda skirted over question 21 and did a best guess. We did finish all 22 questions and took 9 photos. But sadly, we got four questions wrong (I still think the one question should've been counted as correct) and got the wrong location for the photo in front of the Friends building. So we tied with two other teams for second place. Which I am still sad about. But I did win $20. When we turned in our stuff they gave us surveys to fill out. We hobbled over to the Stoned Crow to drink beer while filling out surveys and waiting for all the teams to return. Steph and I spilled beer on my survey so I think that's why I won in the drawing there. The beer called to the woman and she just HAD to pick mine. So when we didn't win the whole shebang I treated everyone to ice cream with my winnings. Good times.
Then we went to Pottery Barn so Charlotte could do her mystery shopper thing and Muffy and I could sit on comfy cube seats and gab. Pumpkin and I are thinking of getting a beach house for a week next summer and inviting everyone in the world to come. Should be awesome. So Muff and I were tossing that idea around. Pumpkin, Muffy recommends the cape. Just so you know. Steph wandered off to look at boy clothes I think.
Then Charlotte went home to nap while I went with Steph and Muffy to shop and have a cookout in their courtyard with some neighbors. It was a lot of fun with a cute kid, veggie burgers and Sun Chips and grapes, an awesome dog and lots of conversation. But I thought I was going to die of exhaustion by the time I left.
Sunday I napped a lot. And watched A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. I've always loved the book and thought I'd check out the movie. The book is better, of course. But parts of it are depressing and make me cry so that was yet another downer of a movie for me. Good times. Then off for Thai food and Hero. Another good movie that was depressing. Because why should I be happy when there are all these depressing movies to watch? Why?
And then nothing much until the great flood of 2004. Almost greater than the flood of Noah's time. Bah. New York can apparently handle terrorist attack, blackouts and the Republicans but cannot handle rain. And this has happened before. We get one hard fast rain and suddenly no one can drive and the train tunnels are all flooded. Took me TWO HOURS to get to work yesterday. It normally takes 40-45 minutes. But no. Two hours. Such poop. I was pretty lucky too. The second train I took to get into Manhattan wasn't too crowded at the very end and I caught a seat and could sit happily reading Flynn while the train did all of it's sitting and waiting. Saved my sanity I think. Luckily everything was back to normal for me on my way home. And this morning. Let's hope it stays this way. I remember one year I fought rain train hell to get to work and find that over half the office just stayed home and weren't even losing vacation time for it. I should've just worked from home yesterday. Dangit.
I'm looking forward to my vacation I think.
Anyway, I have been neglecting the blog because I've been having fun and napping. Aren't y'all jealous? And I don't actually consider napping fun so those are two different things I'm talking about. I find sleep to be a huge time suck. But my body demands it. And when I've gone too long with too little, I have to nap. Tragic. At least I have cats to nap with which makes it seem a little bit less of a waste.
So, on the 1st I headed off to Muffy and Steph's to check out Hawaii. It was not good. Oh no, it was not. But we had a blast. I had on an Aloha Shirt. Muffy was wearing a big fake flower. Steph made mai tais. We gorged on pasta. We got drunk. Good times. Really, it's the show's fault. Steph thought a drinking game was in order. We drank to the mention of virgin sacrifice. We drank to the mention of Ohana (though I was okay with the use of pau). We drank to the ridiculousness of the big red bathtub in the ridiculously large apartment for a building of that type. We drank to all kinds of nonsense and it was good. And the show, while bad, was not as bad as I thought it might be. The boys are pretty and I like a lot of the location shots (though going from Waikiki to "Kalani" (what, you can't pronounce Kalaniani'ole?) Highway in two seconds was kinda funny. Hee. The one on the 6th I think had a scene from Keneke's where we sometimes stop for plate lunch on the Circle Island Tour so that was amusing to me. So I will keep watching. And will keep waiting for the day when a good show films in Hawai'i. Some day. I do like it better than North Shore. Though North Shore has a couple pretty boys as well. But fewer cool location shots and far fewer locals. I so don't count Jasmine Trias. Because she annoys me.
Oh, and last Wednesday and Thursday I did get to work from home. Which was excellent. I cleared off TiVo and watched lots of sad movies. Because that's apparently my trend right now. I watched Midnight Cowboy which was good, but depressing as hell. I was kind of annoyed though. I figured I'd work some and clean some and putz around and do chores and nap in my hammock and all that but instead I pretty much did work freaking all day both days. So annoying. I guess I was wrong about me not ever being able to be a productive telecomuter.
Friday I went out with Iolanthe and Lovey for dinner and a movie after work. The plan had been to grab Indian food and see Vanity Fair. But I didn't pay attention to the emails clearly enough and wasn't sure where the restaurant I was thinking of was actually located. And the Indian place Iolanthe looked up wasn't where it was supposed to be. So we wandered down 9th Avenue until we hit Turkish Cuisine. And had that. Which was good. With lots of fun chatter. Then, we get to the theater only to learn that Iolanthe had been lied to!!!! Vanity Fair was playing at 7PM but not 7PM and 7:30PM as we had thought. So, we wandered across the street to the AMC (one of my fave NYC movie theaters because I love capitalism and comfy seats) and ended up catching We Don't Live Here Anymore. It was well done and beautifully acted and depressing as hell. Because that was becoming my new theme. Then we chatted in the theater until it was about time for the movie to start again. Heh.
Saturday was a blast. Charlotte, Muffy, Steph and I met up at The Pink Tea Cup for bunch. They had really good grits and decent biscuits and good corn fritters. Sadly I did not order the fritters and only got a bite of one. It's a tiny place and we timed it well so no waiting. Because we rock. Of course we finished early with an hour before our Scavenger Hunt. Heh. Charlotte had done one before though work and liked it and suggested one for us. We were doing the Greenwich Village TV & Movie Hunt. We got a list of 22 questions as well as a Polaroid camera and 9 photo tasks. We then get two hours to answer as many of the questions and take as many of the photos as we could. It was insanely dorky and a ton of fun. The questions send you to movie & tv locations and you try and find the answers to questions. The questions do at least direct you to a specific block which is nice. And most of the questions weren't too hard, but weren't all ridiculously easy either. Ed's Shirt managed to join us but wasn't much help. We were going like crazy for the first hour but by the last half hour the heat was really kicking our butts and we kinda skirted over question 21 and did a best guess. We did finish all 22 questions and took 9 photos. But sadly, we got four questions wrong (I still think the one question should've been counted as correct) and got the wrong location for the photo in front of the Friends building. So we tied with two other teams for second place. Which I am still sad about. But I did win $20. When we turned in our stuff they gave us surveys to fill out. We hobbled over to the Stoned Crow to drink beer while filling out surveys and waiting for all the teams to return. Steph and I spilled beer on my survey so I think that's why I won in the drawing there. The beer called to the woman and she just HAD to pick mine. So when we didn't win the whole shebang I treated everyone to ice cream with my winnings. Good times.
Then we went to Pottery Barn so Charlotte could do her mystery shopper thing and Muffy and I could sit on comfy cube seats and gab. Pumpkin and I are thinking of getting a beach house for a week next summer and inviting everyone in the world to come. Should be awesome. So Muff and I were tossing that idea around. Pumpkin, Muffy recommends the cape. Just so you know. Steph wandered off to look at boy clothes I think.
Then Charlotte went home to nap while I went with Steph and Muffy to shop and have a cookout in their courtyard with some neighbors. It was a lot of fun with a cute kid, veggie burgers and Sun Chips and grapes, an awesome dog and lots of conversation. But I thought I was going to die of exhaustion by the time I left.
Sunday I napped a lot. And watched A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. I've always loved the book and thought I'd check out the movie. The book is better, of course. But parts of it are depressing and make me cry so that was yet another downer of a movie for me. Good times. Then off for Thai food and Hero. Another good movie that was depressing. Because why should I be happy when there are all these depressing movies to watch? Why?
And then nothing much until the great flood of 2004. Almost greater than the flood of Noah's time. Bah. New York can apparently handle terrorist attack, blackouts and the Republicans but cannot handle rain. And this has happened before. We get one hard fast rain and suddenly no one can drive and the train tunnels are all flooded. Took me TWO HOURS to get to work yesterday. It normally takes 40-45 minutes. But no. Two hours. Such poop. I was pretty lucky too. The second train I took to get into Manhattan wasn't too crowded at the very end and I caught a seat and could sit happily reading Flynn while the train did all of it's sitting and waiting. Saved my sanity I think. Luckily everything was back to normal for me on my way home. And this morning. Let's hope it stays this way. I remember one year I fought rain train hell to get to work and find that over half the office just stayed home and weren't even losing vacation time for it. I should've just worked from home yesterday. Dangit.
I'm looking forward to my vacation I think.
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