He made me a Mama

What better day than his 20th birthday could there be to tell you how awesome my son is?
Yeah, I know, all Mommies love their babies.
But as my son has gotten older and more mature, he is becoming a (gulp) MAN who I am truly proud of.

He is a very hard worker.  He gets to work early and stays as long as he is needed.  He takes his job seriously and is very reliable.
He has a wicked, fantastic sense of humor.
He's friendly and polite, especially to little kids and old people.

But let me tell you what makes me the most proud of all.
This boy LOVES his family.
He has such a strong sense of love, devotion, and obligation to his family.
But not obligation in a negative way.
If his family is having a gathering - he WILL be there, if at all possible.
Not because it's expected of him, but because he wants to be there.  That's his family.
He has a four year old half-sister, his dad's daughter, whom he adores.  She was born when he was 16, a time when many boys would have been way too busy for a baby sister.  But not my son - he is a wonderful brother.
And my great-niece, Hayleigh?  OMG.
He ADORES her.  When they are together, he is playing with her nearly the entire time.  The rest of the time, he's feeding her.  She LOVES her Timmy.  He crawls on the floor with her, throws her in the air, and absolutely DELIGHTS her.
Any time my family gets together, my son is there.  Not because I guilt him into it- not at all.  Because he truly wants to be there.

And since my Dad's illness, he has proven himself more than ever.
Last night, when Tim got off work, he came straight to the hospital.  I expected him to make an appearance, chat with everyone, then leave.
But - no.  He stayed until I left at about 10pm.  He visited his Papa and then spent time with the rest of the family.  Because he wanted to.
And then .... today.  While I slept, he went to the hospital.  He left his home and drove to the hospital and spent time with his papa and the rest of our family.  I had nothing to do with it, and it wasn't because he was asked to....he WANTED to.  Because he understands the value of family.

I am immensely proud of this kid. This evening as I was leaving the hospital, I was explaining to my Dad why I was leaving.  Tim is here at my house tonight with some friends, having a little birthday celebration, and I needed to get home with pizza and soda, and to bake a cake.  I said to my Dad, "You remember today is Tim's birthday, right?" And my dad said "YES I do, and he came and visited me today.  And stayed for a LONG TIME."

I am not the only one who is proud of my son - my whole family is.   And sure, it's nice to receive compliments about yourself - but a MILLION times better for your family to tell you how awesome your kids are.

Happy 20th Birthday to the boy who made me a Mama!!

Thank You Fragments

I seriously MUST have the most supportive, loving friends in the whole blogosphere, and I can't thank you enough.  Y'all are awesome.  I love you.  From the bottom of my heart, THANK YOU.

I can't express how good it feels to close one sad chapter and start a new, wonderful one...and I truly believe this one is my happy ending.  I intend to elaborate on that more later this week. Stay tuned....


If you haven't tuned in all week....be sure and read back a few posts.  It's been an eventful week.  I got married, and stuff.

I've told y'all before and I'll tell y'all again.  My job kicks my ass.  I also have some amazing co-workers who build me up and keep me going.  We truly care about our patients and giving them the absolute best care possible, and that feels SO good.

My father - who turned 76 today (Thursday), is having open heart bypass surgery on Tuesday.  I JUST posted about it on Facebook and I'm sitting here in tears over the support and prayers that are now coming my way.  Thank you from the bottom of my heart!!

If ONE MORE OF YOU comment on my post about my dad before I finish this post I'm going to absolutely collapse in tears.

I am having another great-NIECE.  I totally confess to hoping for a BOY but I am absolutely ecstatic about having another great niece to spoil!  It's a win/win for me.

This weekend will be filled with baseball and family.  I hope you enjoy yours as much as I intend to enjoy mine!!!

Things that will rock your world

~~ A text from your mom at 3 a.m. saying your dad was taken to the hospital by ambulance and is being admitted.

~~ When your dad is a patient at the hospital where you work, and someone calls a code blue.  (NOT for him, thank God, but my heart skipped several beats.)

My whole life has turned upside down since last Friday, as has my whole family's.  While I'm at work in my rare free moments, I'm running down two floors to check on my dad and take coffee to my mom.  When I get off, I go take care of their dog, who is absolutely beside himself without his 'people'.  Then I still have my own household to take care of, including my sweet man who will literally (and cheerfully) eat chips and cookies and call that dinner if I don't cook.
I have to feed people.  I've told y'all before - I'm a Southern Mama.  It's what I do.
I still have to go to the grocery store, and clean the house, and work full time (in fact, this week, overtime - we're short-handed).  I'm fielding calls from relatives (some we haven't heard from in years - so annoying) and trying to be there when the doctors come in so I can attempt to translate for my parents what I can understand.  I must say, the doctors have been wonderful;  patient and never rushed.  I am incredibly glad that he is being treated at 'my' hospital, because that way I'm there and can stop in often, before work, during work, and when I get off.

Oh and occasionally? I get to sleep a little.

The good news is, the tests did not show any cancer or serious gastric problems.  He is, however, facing two very serious surgeries; one to clear up the blockage in his carotid arteries and then about a week later, a heart bypass surgery.

He has a lot of heart problems.

He is seventy-six years old.

This is some scary shit, y'all  

I have so many random thoughts going through my head but these are the ones that I'm able to get typed out coherently.

On Hold

All of our weekend plans are on hold as our lives have turned pretty much upside down.

At 3 a.m. on Friday morning, I got a text from my Mom saying she and my dad were at the hospital.  He had been brought in by ambulance as was being admitted.  I went up there right away.

He was feeling badly all day Thursday but was procrastinating going to the doctor (totally typical for my dad).  He had a 'stinging' sensation in his chest and arms, weakness, dizziness, and an upset stomach.  He said it was coming and going.  But finally at 1a.m., he slumped over in his chair in pain, and my Mother said "I am calling an amulance NOW" and Dad didn't argue.

He had a mild heart attack.  He has internal bleeding from an as yet undetermined source.  He's lost so much blood through his digestive system that he needed a transfusion.  Due to the blood loss, his heart has been working overtime and finally became overworked.  His heart is strong but there was considerable damage.

They're in the testing process now.  He needs a bypass operation, but first they have to determine the source of the bleeding and stop it.  He also has blockage in his carotid arteries, but that will be dealt with after the other two major issues.

One good thing is that he's being treated at the hospital where I work, so even when I'm at work I can check in on him.  Between work and my dad, I may as well move in.

He's having tests on Monday that should discover the cause of the bleeding so he will be in the hospital until those are done, at minimum.

He's feeling a lot better due to the 2 units of blood that were transfused and the medications they are giving him.  He's ornery and giving the nurses, techs, lab techs, etc a hard time.

I'll try to keep ya posted.....