A Holiday Just Isn't Complete Without...

...an ambulance ride to the emergency room, major surgery and an extended stay in a rehabilitation facility.

My poor mother is in for quite a month. Saturday night my dad called from the St. David's South Austin Medical Center. I know that a conversation with my dad is bringing bad news when he begins with the words, "Well, Kiddo..."
He said my mom had slipped and fallen on their tile floor on a spilled drink that she was en route to clean up. She was unable to move and they had to call EMS. She requested "no sirens" which they did not heed...she just wanted to still be in control! That's so her. Because Marble Falls or the surrounding cities don't have major hospitals, she had to be taken all the way to South Austin.
The news? A broken left hip. She went into surgery early Sunday morning. We were all there waiting when she woke up. Some of the first words out of her mouth were..."I retired eight years ago and have had three surgeries since then. I think I'm going back to work." She certainly won't be any time soon, though.
Although the surgery went great, we found out today that the rehab may be quite a bit more than she bargained for. It looks like her stay in Austin will be quite a bit longer than expected. Yesterday, we left with the impression: 2-3 days in the hospital and hopefully back to Marble Falls for in-home rehab. After a morning of working with her and determining where she is at now, the good people at St. David's are now thinking she will be transferred to their downtown facility for an extended stay for the remainder of her rehab...possibly up to 20 days. Yuck. Not really what any of us wanted to hear, especially this time of the year. But, we totally understand and will do everything we can to make it easier on her (and the people attending her, who are earning quite a few jewels in their crowns!). She is pretty down in the dumps with this news. My dad has said that she has pretty much "blown off Christmas 2008" and was just pretty upset in general. It is also going to be pretty tough on my dad making the drive every day from Marble Falls to South Austin and back again. I am hoping to get over there with some food for him in the next day or so...he'll live on Chicken Express if we let him. And we won't, because we really don't need any major arterial bypasses on top of everything else.
Just keep my mom and dad in your prayers right now. Pray for a speedy recovery and minimal stay in the rehab facility. Pray for her spirits and ours, too.
On a side note, I have had a couple of emails since this happened regarding card orders. There will be no delay in your cards at all. Sitting down and designing cards is actually a HUGE stress-reliever for me, so I am not slowing down there and everything is still running right on schedule.