Update 11-9-06 and later

On October 9th, Mother (90 years old) received her annual flu shot, and was ill for 2 weeks! During that time, on Oct. 16th, I began to observe changes in her behavior: sleeping 22 hours a day, not initiating conversation, not responding to questions, having difficulty retrieving words, having difficulty remembering things, loss of fine and gross motor skills, and just general weakness. She had an MRI done on Saturday, Oct. 28th, which showed she was having 2 kinds of strokes: one across the back of her head where the blood vessels were breaking and the other was strokes with clots on either side of her temples. The symptoms began to escalate and were more frequent and of longer duration, so on Wed., Nov. 1st, the Dr. admitted her to the hospital. She has made a lot of improvement since being hospitalized, and was moved to a rehab floor on Tuesday, Nov. 7th. She is doing better, but has good and bad days, as we all do, but they seem to be magnified in intensity. I am spending about 12 hours a day at the hospital, so I'm not doing much else. I still invite you to contact me if you have questions or comments, but just be aware I may not answer as immediately as I normally do. Be sure you use this email address if you do have a question or comment, since my email address has changed: emaxson2@tx.rr.com

Update 11-30-06:
Mother had a long hospital stay. As I mentioned above, she was admitted with 2 kinds of strokes, but made it to rehab after about a week. However, on the 5th or 6th day there, she had a heart attack while in physical therapy. That sent her to ICU for several days, but she rallied and was sent to a reg. room to recuperate so that she might return to rehab. Unfortunately, she developed pneumonia, and for the 3rd time, I was told she might not even make it to ICU. However, she did, and after a week there and another 5 days or so in a reg. room with the respirator removed (We do have a DNR in place.), she was released to go home on hospice. That happened late Monday afternoon. The hospice office is just 5 min. from my house, and they have been so helpful. Thank goodness Mother is home for the last leg of her trip in this life. She is comfortable and peaceful, sleeping most of the time. However, that contagious smile, sweet spirit and her twinkling eyes are still apparent, when someone comes to visit or we go through our "tucking in" ritual at the end of the day. The ICU Dr. who released Mother, the hospice nurse, and I all agree. We really do not think she will last very long. Her breathing is becoming more labored, and she just seems to be shutting down. The best we can do is keep her comfortable.

I am also thankful to be home, so that I may get back on the eating plan. Having to eat all meals/snacks at the hospital was not good. There were few "good" choices to make. I asked about that, and was told they had tried to serve "healthy" food, but the cafeteria nearly went broke.....no one bought the "good stuff"!! So, I just had to make do with what was there, and it was not good. This morning I'll be making pumpkin bread and sausage patties, along with steaming veggies, cooking rice, chicken, and making salad dressing. "Dorothy" was right....."There's no place like home!" After spending almost 3 months this year at the hospital with Mother, I REALLY believe that!! :-))

Update 12-19-06:

Mother passed away on Monday, December 11th, sometime between midnight and 5:20 AM when I found her. She had died in her sleep and had the sweetest smile on her face. Apparently, she went without a struggle, as her bed covers were undisturbed and she was in the same position she had been in at midnight. The family visitation was held on Dec. 13th in Grand Prairie, TX where she had lived for 44 years, with the funeral on Thursday, December 14th at New World UMC in Garland, TX. Graveside services and burial were held in Haskell, TX where she was born and raised, and where my father was buried in 1993. She will be missed immensely, but I would never wish her back in the condition she was in. My feeling is that if she is OK (which I am SURE she is), then I am OK. We will meet again some day, and that will be a glorious reunion!

All this to say to you that life happens and sometimes interferes with the best of plans, but the good thing is that I can hardly wait to get back on program after having been off for 5 of the 12 months this year, when I was "living" at the hospital with Mother and a captive of the hospital food chain! Yes, I have gained, but am back on target. Thank goodness for Michael's wonderful plan. I don't have to worry about the weight gain, because I am already back on track for getting it off!! In years past, I would have just kept on gaining and gaining!! Now I have time to get my exercise in and to cook consistently, and I am so looking forward to that!! I do hope you will consider this program, especially if you are very obese. It is not easy, but then, nothing worthwhile ever is. You will get out of it what you put into it. If you are not willing to invest some time and effort into changing your lifestyle and your health, then, you will not be successful. However, if you ARE willing to learn to cook, to take the time to study and follow the program, then the rewards are incredible!