More Bumps

We arrived safely at Cousin Marians with no problems. The flight was on time, the car was reserved, and Marian had purchased Diet Coke before we arrived.

The second bump occurred when sister Ann called me Friday evening with the news that Mom had fallen and broken her other hip. (The first one was broken in May.) I told Hillary I felt guilty because once again, Ann was having to deal with the crisis while I was across the country somewhere. (In May I was in Florida.) Hillary said that was how she was going to be. She was going to have to take care of my issues by herself and her sister wouldn't even feel guilty.

Third bump: Hillary started vomiting at Universal Studios on Sunday afternoon and continued to vomit at intervals until we boarded the plane on Monday morning. Fortunately, the vomiting aspect of her illness was over at that point and she was spared the experience of vomiting in an airplane bathroom.

Once on the ground in Kansas City, I picked up the rental car and went to St. Joe to check on Mom. I made a mad dash back to Gladstone early in the evening to change suitcases and returned to the hospital to spend the night with Mom in order to qwell some of my guilt for being an absent daughter. I left St. Joe for Muskogee, Oklahoma around 7 AM, Tuesday morning. I was hungry, but couldn't think of anything that didn't cause my stomach to churn, so settled for a bottle of milk. Diet Coke didn't even sound good. The trip to Oklahoma was pretty miserable and I arrived at the facility around noon to begin a four day Mock Survey. By the time I checked into the hotel at 7 PM I thought I was going to collapse. I chalked up my nausea and lethargy to lack of sleep and overall tiredness, but by Friday, when I still couldn't drink Diet Coke, realized I had a milder version of whatever made Hillary sick at Universal. Subsequently, we found out Marian also developed a GI malady.

By the time I arrived back at the hospital on Friday evening, Mother had regained her cognitive function and was on the road to recovery. I spent Friday night at the hospital and on Saturday she moved to a Skilled Bed at Carriage Square. She is recovering quite nicely and I beileve will be back in her apartment in a week or two.

I headed to South Dakota on Monday. The plane was 1 1/2 hours late leaving Kansas City, so I had visions of spending some more time with Marc and Susan, but the connection went smoothly and I arrived in Deadwood in time to watch Marie Osmond faint on Dancing with the Stars. At 8:30 I turned out the light and slept until 6:30 the next morning. I can now drink Diet Coke and eat anything I want.

Life is good.