Confessions of a Neglectful Commenter

 

I feel a bit bad.  I've fallen WAY behind on my google reader, and I haven't been commenting on all of your lovely blogs.  I apologize.  Sometimes life just gets in the way, but I'm hoping that by the end of next month things will be back on track to Awesomeville.

A few weeks ago I went to visit my mom in Northern Virginia.  She lives with my aunt and uncle, and they were going out of town and my aunt let me know that my mom wasn't really eating much and not able to go down the short flight of stairs to the kitchen anymore.  For those of you that don't know, my mom has advanced COPD.  Growing up in a coal mining town and then smoking for 50 years obviously leads to poor lung function.

We've been trying to get Mom to move down to our part of Virginia for years now (I grew up in NoVa, I love it, but the traffic and travel time up there and back is ridiculous. Plus, last time I checked we hadn't won the lottery, which would be the only way we could afford to live there). Mom being mom, she said no, and continued to smoke despite our pleas and the doctor's order to quit.  "It's the only vice I indulge" is her motto.  My response is that I'd be fine if she started drinking, as she has years to destroy her liver, and that since she's a widow, she's free to start sleeping around.  Mom wasn't much amused.

But when I went up to see her, things were far worse than I could have guessed.  Not only wasn't she eating, she wasn't smoking.  She wasn't drinking COFFEE.  Prior to last month, coffee made up 50% of the fluids in her body.  And while Mom hasn't been a chunky monkey in years, her weight loss was particularly noticeable, especially when compared to the edema in her legs.  Still, she said she was okay.  Maybe, just maybe she'd move her doctor's appointment up.

She's a stubborn woman.

My amazing sister-in-law, Amy, and my brother Patrick came up on a Saturday, and Amy was able to convince Mom to go to the hospital... on Sunday.  See, stubborn.  And even then, she was so weak it took almost two hours to get her ready. 

Mom had pneumonia, congestive heart failure, and just for fun, her hear was in afib. Her weight was under a hundred pounds.  It was pretty scary.  Thankfully, INOVA Mount Vernon is a wonderful hospital, and Mom fought hard, and now she's doing much better.  She's out of the hospital and in physical rehabilitation. She still has a weak heart, and we'll have to watch her for CHF, but with enough exercise and conditioning she'll be much better off than she's been in a long time.

*On a side note, despite being almost 70, Mom never signed up for Medicare. *headdesk* She has great insurance through Blue Cross/Blue Shield Federal Employees (Thanks, Dad!), but they don't cover skilled nursing facilities.  The great social workers at the hospital told us that in some cases Blue Cross will create a benefit to cover rehab, meaning they pay for it out of their pockets and that they won't get reimbursed by the government.  Janis at Blue Cross approved Mom, and she's busy getting healthy again.  I have nothing but praise for Blue Cross!!*

Mom's still having ups and downs, but more ups this week.  And she's agreed to move in with the Hubs and me!!!

Now what all this means is that I've been busy.  I've been running back and forth from NoVa to here, looking at houses (we currently live in a second floor apartment but stairs are not going be Mom's thing), and now that we found a home, I have to pack and move in a week or so.  Plus I'm getting back to work.

Does this mean I won't be posting reviews or I won't have time to read?  Hells no! The world didn't end, so of course I'm still reading.  But it just means that I don't have time to scroll through my Google Reader and comment.  So please, if you have a post or review in need of some comment love, something you think I might have missed (I did), then put a link in the comments and I promise to make it a priority.

Despite all the craziness, there have been so many blessings in the last two weeks.  I am so thankful to have such a wonderful family, and an amazing husband.  I'm grateful to my friends, and fellow bloggers!  Thanks for being patient.  Hopefully I'll soon be posting even more reviews (the Hubs got me Dragon, that voice to text program, although it takes a lot to set it up.  Ugh.  Dragon, I'm lazy, aren't I just supposed to do the talking while you do the writing?) and commenting again.  Thanks for being patient, even if you didn't know I wasn't around as much!