My mom's heart attack and other news (final update page 4!!)

What fantastic news!  I know you are all so incredibly relieved to see some progress.  I will continue to pray that every day brings more improvement. 

I don't want to offer advice on the situation with your youngest sister but coming from a large family with quite a few "problem" teens over the years, I will just say that sometimes a crisis will wake them up to what is really important. 

Oh my goodness!  Good thoughts and prayers on their way...I just read this thread.  I am so glad your Mom is coming out of it and wish her a speedy recovery...it will take time for sure.

I agree that sometimes it takes a crisis to turn things around.  Your lil sis is obviously going to be a tough one to win over...but you can do it.  Including her in everything, getting her involved in sports and allowing her to keep a bit of freedom will help her with the transition.  I understand what you mean about too much leniency not helping her travel down the right path.  But, it takes time as you know. 

Best of luck, lots of love and I'll continue with thoughts and prayers for you and yours.

Please keep us posted...I know you will.

georgie4682

So, now I have this poor messed up kid who doesn't want to live with me because she will lose a lot of the freedoms she had before.

Unfortunately, I can really relate to your sister. After my mom died, my dad focused even more than before on his business and on top of that, he had a drinking problem. I had more freedom than any teenager should have and got myself into quite a bit of trouble. I wish someone had stepped in and helped, but I'm sure I'd have fought it all the way. Your sister may resent having to live with you and she might make your life a bit hellish, but it's probably exactly what she needs at this point. You really need your other sister to back you up on this. If your youngest sister thinks she's got a choice between you, then it's just going to make it that much harder. It won't be easy but I really wish you all the luck in the world with this.

 I'm very glad your mother is doing better. I'm so sorry you're having to struggle with your sister as well. I wish I had words of wisdom for you, but I don't know if much of anything is going to make this easy for your family. I think your sister is very lucky to have an older sister who loves her as much as you do, even if she doesn't quite realize it at the time. Best wishes for you.

 i'm so glad your mom is already inproving! i hope she recovers in no time!

as for your sister, i feel your pain. my sister is just now slowly going into a rational state of mind. thankfully i have always been close to her and she would respect my opinion mostly so my mom would just use me as "backup". 

i have no advice for that, as i think you already are doing a great job!

I just realized that I haven't updated you guys on everything.  My mom finally came out of the induced coma.  Her memory has been pretty terrible.  She is having a really hard time remembering what people look like, what her house looks like, what her cat looks like, etc.  I took in pictures of my dogs and she remembered them, but didn't remember that Buster is now gone.  I felt bad having to tell her that, she always loved him.  We've taken in pictures of things to help her and she has been keeping a journal that everyone writes in, like birthdays, names relations, and any other things she might need to know.  She was having a lot of trouble understanding that she has three girls and what our birth order is, but she totally remembered my husband.  She said "My son in law hasn't been in to visit me." LOL  Meanwhile he was there it was just before she was awake.

She has been moved up to the rehab center in the hospital and is receiving physical therapy and speech therapy(to get her voice back after having all those tubes down her throat).  She is not allowed to have any stress at all.  We have to keep her calm and stress free so she doesn't have another heart attack.  In about a month they want to do the double bypass, but they haven't set a date yet, that will all depend on how fast she gets stronger.  On Tuesday it will be a month that she's been in the hospital.  It has been so hard on me.  I just want her to come home.  It's so strange not having her five minutes away.

Big hugs and blessings to you guys.

 I know I'm getting to this a few days after you posted the update, but I was just thinking today of how you were doing with your Mom's cat and then found this post. Here's hoping for a speedy recovery for your Mom. Also sending some strength vibes to help you to carry you through this tough time. It is so hard when our parents aren't their for us anymore, the way that they always had been.

Kitty is doing well.  She thinks that Benny is her own personal plaything, however he just pretends that she doesn't exist.  Everyone is living and fitting together fairly nicely.  My aunt came and took Kitty to her house to see my mom(that's where my mom is staying) and she has been there for 2 days since they can't get her back into her carrier to come back here.  My aunt also has a cat and he isn't too pleased with Miss Kitty in his house.

We have more sad news though.  My younest sister's dad is about to pass away.  We knew this was coming.  He was never the greatest father figure, never healthy (severe alcoholic), and he now has pneumonia and is hooked up to a life support system.  They were planning to pull the plug today, I think.  It's ashame this is all happening right now.  My mom feels awful because she can't even go into the hospital to see him and she can only be there so much for my sister.  Luckily my sister has an awesome family on that side.  I just can't imagine being 14 having had your mom go through this awful ordeal and then right away to lose your father.  Ugh, I need the strength to help everyone through this.

On a lighter note, today is the first day since last Friday that I have started to feel better from the flu.  I have been in bed for literally 9 days.  I haven't seen my mom in quite a while and I can't wait to see her and my sisters.  Maybe tomorrow...

When it rains, it pours. And we're still here for you.

Another update!!!!

So my mom was in the hospital forever!  She was finally able to come home and she stayed with her sister who took care of her.  She went into the hospital on Feb. 17 and got out on March 18.  Last Friday, she went in for her double bypass.  Everything went well.  The doctor who saved her life is amazed at her recovery and he kept checking in to see how she was doing.  I am so relieved that this is all coming to an end.  She will continue to stay with her sister at least for a while.  I have been taking care of my youngest sister and things are going better, not great, but better.  Her dad did end up passing and it was really difficult for my mom.  They weren't together, but they were close. 

So, I'll probably have my sister living with me at least until the end of the summer, so wish me luck on that one!!

Thanks for all your well wishes!

I'm so glad for your Mom and for your family that she is out of the hospital and her heart surgery went well.  As far as your younger sister, it's hard to be responsible for someone that age who really doesn't want anyone to tell them what to do, much less a sister!  My youngest brother, who is 16 years younger than me, stayed with DH and I when he was a teenager.  What a roller coaster ride that was and I am surprised we are still friends. :)  Not really, it wasn't that bad but I do know how tough it can be for all of you.

 I'm glad things are going better for you.  My condolences on your sister's father.  Poor thing having to deal with all of that.

 We'll keep your mom in our thoughts, and I know you can get through the sister part.  One of Mike's boys came to live with us once, and he didn't like the rules either.  It ended very badly at the time, because we stuck to our guns with a united front.  Oh, did I mention that he's coming over to mow my lawn tomorrow and calls to check on me at least every other week???  I think it was the structure we gave him, and the honesty, that made all the difference.  Now, he's a great kid and our relationship is very strong.  Good thing, too, now that his dad is gone - he has a family connection on his dad's side which he wouldn't have had otherwise.