Introductions All Around

 

 On January 21, 2019, my Mother was discovered on the bathroom floor by her friend.  She didn't show up for lunch, and that raised concern.  I was notified, and 911 was called. 

She was rushed to the local hospital, who diagnosed her as having a massive stroke.  Unknown hours before she was discovered.  She had a black eye from falling against the bathroom sink, and a massive burn on her wrist from falling against the steam pipe in the bathroom.  She was life flighted to a trauma center an hour (by car) away.  As I stood in the parking lot, watching the helicopter take off, I had no idea what was going to happen, nor where twists and turns our lives were going to take in the next few years.

Until this point in time, my mother was reasonably healthy, took no medications, didn't eat garbage (often) but she had smoked for over 50 years.  She had only complained about a nagging cough for a few weeks.  "But don't worry about me, it'll be fine"  Independent to a fault.  She was active in her community, and was a real estate broker for many years, owning her own agency, both selling and managing properties.

I have always had a strained relationship with her.  She was the master of the backhanded compliment.  "Oh such a pretty shirt, I'm glad you found it in your size" and things like that.  I lived 50+ miles away, because distance was a good thing.  I was always on pins & needles around her, waiting for the next shot or comment.  It was exhausting.

This blog may serve as therapy for me, to let go of some of these feelings that have surfaced, and maybe educate a little bit, with all the things I've learned throughout this 'stroke journey'.