By Vicki Scott
Another project recently invaded my mind, and I was inspired to use the other three members of our Golden Girls team to do yet another creative mission at George Wallace Senior Center in Glencoe.
The inspiration took place during my time with God, which is first thing in the morning. I was full of excitement, which overflowed when I shared the idea with our team. They jumped in wholeheartedly, and I immediately ordered stickers.
The Golden Girls jumped into action and pulled together everything except for one thing – the stickers. They were scheduled to arrive last Friday, but I tracked the order to find that it had arrived in Attalla on Monday, June 22. I thought we could finish the project by Tuesday, and all would be well with the world. When Monday came, it was chaos! Nothing seemed to work out as planned, and I returned home to find no stickers.
On Monday afternoon, however, I received a call and learned the hard way that my mother had a blood clot on her lung. I was told she “coded” and they performed CPR. She was then put on a ventilator in ICU. I was not sure what “coded” meant, and I did not recognize a ventilator as life support.
It all happened so fast, and my mind could not catch up. I was asked if my mother had “advance directives.” I did know what that was, and I told the lady what I thought mother’s wishes would be. She did not want to be kept alive by a machine, but I did not want them to pull the plug if there was hope. The doctor assured me they would do all they could and asked for me to pray. Those last two words gave me peace.
I was numb on Tuesday as I arrived at work, but my co-workers were such a blessing. That evening, the doctor found the blood clot and decided to test my mom for the coronavirus, of which blood clots are a symptom.
I panicked. I am part of a diligent group of people who did all we knew how to do in order to keep that virus away from our seniors. The place where mother was living was even more strict, and I had not seen my mother since the quarantine. In my opinion, this is the hardest thing for our el-derly to endure, especially social people like my mom. My mother and I both wore our masks and went through some sanitizer when I went to see her. She already has been through some issues, and this would complicate things even more so for her.
The doctor said I would find out the test results on Wednesday. I did not feel up to calling Bingo online Tuesday night. The results had not come on Wednesday, and I still did not know what to do. I would not be allowed see my mom unless the results were negative. No one is allowed in ICU.
I canceled the online Wednesday Night Bible Study because my husband and I were taking my mom to the hospital for tests. I asked for prayers without an explanation as to why.
I am so blessed with my sisters in Christ, and I decided to do a Bible study anyway. Our church plans to start back on Wednesday nights soon, which is such a blessing.
On Thursday, June 25, the results came back negative. I praise God! The doctor said they would move my mother to a room and that I could see her. The hospital would only allow one person at a time, but there were no visiting hours. I cannot drive at night because I have cataracts. My eye doctor said I could drive if I took eye drops, but I am not comfortable with it.
On Friday, June 26, I set everything up at work and then left for home so my better half could drive me back to the hospital. I was afraid when I found out that when mom coded it meant that her heart stopped beating and she had to be resuscitated. I thought that she would be upset, because she did not want to be resuscitated.
As soon as the phone rang to let us know we could see her, we loaded up and started toward south-central Alabama. My darling husband drove and waited in the car the whole time I visited with my mom. What a sport! We got home after midnight. I cried the whole time I was visiting my mom and did not want to leave her, but she needed to rest.
On Saturday, June 27, a nurse and a physical therapist told me what exactly had happened the day my mom’s heart stopped beating. The physical therapist wanted to be sure and let me know that when mom woke up, she told him how she had now cheated death three times and how God still has a purpose for her. My mom is still making a difference. I wish y’all could have witnessed how touched the physical therapist was. That opened up the conversation to other things mom had done in her life to make a difference.
A heart attack is when blood flow to the heart is blocked. Cardiac arrest is when the heart stops beating. My mom suffered from cardiac arrest. The doctor said that people who do what my mom did lose 30 to 40 percent of their cognitive ability. This was hard to believe, because the staff said that my mother had recovered faster than anyone who had ever come through there after cardiac arrest. Soon after, mom told us to go home in a tone that sounded awfully familiar. She is still spicy!
It is hard to understand why our project is not done. I did not even think about the stickers, but according to the internet, they are still in Attalla.
Stay safe, y’all, and keep the coronas out of your house!