Celibate and Sane: My Mum is Unwell - Medical Emergency

February 10, 2011

My Mum is Unwell - Medical Emergency

My mum has had lupus for several decades. That is a condition when the person's immune system attacks its own body. Mum has had problems with her kidneys and her liver, and she has developed arthritis. In the last six years her immune system has been attacking her stomach and created bleeding varicose veins in the wall of her stomach, for which she has to get laser surgery several times a year. Since last September she has had trouble keeping food down and even more recently, she has not been able to keep water down either.

Due to the inefficiencies of our hospital system, the letter to the surgeon in Brisbane was "lost" and so mum's case was ignored until just recently when she became so ill that she could barely stand. Her body hadn't been absorbing any nutrients for some time because she couldn't keep her food or water down.

So, all of a sudden last week, mum's case became a medical emergency and she was placed into her local hospital, ready to be flown down to Brisbane by the Flying Doctors for urgent attention. The "medical emergency" status according to the hospital, meant that mum had to wait three days before being flown down to Brisbane. She was then told she would have urgent surgery on Monday to determine what the problem was, but of course, the urgent surgery didn't take place until Tuesday and they were still unable to determine the cause of the problem.

It's now Thursday and mum has been waiting for a specialist who will hopefully be able to figure out what on earth is going on. Meantime, they have put a feeding tube into mum's stomach so that she is getting some nutrients as they try to build her back up again.

I guess one of the positives of this situation is that mum got to go in a Flying Doctor's plane!

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)

Personal Quotes from Vicki-S

"Occasionally I find my breakfast a little bitter, and sometimes it's difficult to chew and swallow; though at other times it's sweet, but it’s very satisfying and always sustains me. My most important meal of the day, is feasting on God’s Word and drinking up His presence."

I love me, because God loves me. It's not that God doesn't see my flaws, they are like blazing torches in His eyes, but rather that He sees past my imperfections and still loves me. And who am I to argue with the perfect God that I am worthwhile, that I am worthy of love, and that He accepts me and wants me to be His child, His beloved daughter? When I understood this, I began to accept and embrace His version and His vision of me, and not the world's.

"The silent treatment and sulking are simply two other weapons in the arsenal of the manipulator."

"Often people use the metaphor of a butterfly emerging from its cocoon to describe how we can grow from difficult experiences, but what they don't mention is the fact that at first we start off as an ugly caterpillar."

"We so often just get caught up in trying to just get through each day, that we forget to pause and be thankful for the fresh one that is presented anew and untouched each morning."

"Contrary to what we might think, forgiveness isn't so much about healing our relationship with that other person, but about healing our own broken heart."

"The purpose of school reunions is to show off how much you've achieved in life, to laugh at the once popular kids who've aged more quickly than you; and to wince at the guy who was a bully in school and who aptly became a policeman."

"I've found in many organisations where volunteers are needed, including the modern-day church, that 80% of its people sit back and let everyone else do most of the work, then there's the 10% who actually make the place run, and the remaining 10% just like to whinge about the 10% doing the work, especially about how they could do it better."

"When traced back to its source, every sin, every despicable act, and every war was motivated by someone's selfishness."

"I do not want to think of man, for that would distract me from God. But if I focus on God, I cannot help but think of my fellow man, and each day God keeps the scales balanced so that I have enough within me to do both."

"Overcoming depression isn’t about changing ones attitude, or just ‘getting on’ with things, it’s like removing one’s personal black shroud one thread at a time, with ones teeth.”