The days since mid July have all run together into one large cluster of chaos.
July 18, 2011 - Calling from their Myrtle Beach vacation, Mom says Tara has a sore throat - and then later a fever. I say "you're a Mom, you know what to do".
I had worked until 6 and decided to eat out and stroll through Kohl's looking for nothing much in particular. It was dark, Miss T was with a friend and Hubby was at his AA meeting, and I noticed my Nanny's house was dark, no porch light on - it was 9pm and this was unusual. I immediately called her number to fuss that she "didn't have that light on" but I got no answer - that scared me. Grabbing her house keys and my flashlight I headed her way, first looking through her yard and into the garden area.....remember a couple years ago she fell in the garden and laid there 8 hours! Of course I panicked.....her car was home; then I noticed her outdoor lock wasn't attached, but the door was locked from inside. I began to yell for her, ringing the doorbell, banging on windows and doors. Before long Tom was home and came up to help me.
Once we got the porch door popped open and onto the porch, the screen door was latched! OMG I had to get inside! But I was afraid of what I would find -- Lord let her be ok please! In the meantime, my Mom was on the phone with me (she and Miss T were in Myrtle Beach) and I was trying my best not to frighten her. We're figuring "Nanny probably fell asleep early and is still sleeping" -- yeah that sounds great!
We got the screen door opened and unlocked the main door, I flipped on lights calling "Nanny?" and I heard her voice!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Whew! I went immediately to her room and turned on her light -- she was in the floor! Oh the terrible look in her eyes....so small and drained looking at me with relief.
I determined she had not broken anything and Tom helped me move her legs and get her rolled over and upright. I insisted that she was obviously dehydrated and WAS GOING TO THE HOSPITAL!! She looked at me, almost to say no and then she said "clean me up first". We are not sure how long she was there, but Mom talked to her around 11am and this was now 9pm!! She was a mess! To the shower we went with Tom's assistance and he dialed 9-1-1. She thanked me over and over and over saying "I'm so glad you broke in and found me!" I said "So I am!"
In the ER she was very alert...finally got an IV into her around 11 - she was so dehydrated the EMT's couldn't get one. I wouldn't leave her alone - my brother came too. He stayed with her so that I could go home and shower and try to rest. I couldn't rest. I was so worried. He finally called me around 3:30am, and I said "Mom needs to know - call her".
At 4am I was on my way to pick Mom up from Myrtle Beach, but she said NO to wait and she'd leave around 6 or 7 to come home. So I went back to the ER to wait with Nanny. Poor girl. They weren't sure what was going on. They were testing her for everything and thought that she was going into kidney and renal failure, but they got that under control. She was having uncontrollable diarrhea - they ran the test for C.dif but each time it was negative. Hmmmmm.....then what?
Finally Mom got to the ER and was able to fill the staff in on some medical information that we were unaware of; latest medications and things that had happened at her last hospital visit for Gall Bladder surgery some 10 years ago. The atrial fib (abnormal heart rhythm) was present then and perhaps that is the concerns for tonight esp since this dehydration is a current trauma.
They finally admit her Tuesday and get her into a room (July 19) saying she is a "very sick lady". Each day she seemed to get 100% better and it was looking like we were on the road to recovery! I took Mom back to Myrtle Beach Wednesday and came home myself on Thursday.
While I was in Myrtle...Miss T began picking at her fingers and when I asked why she said "it looks like fire ant bites" and I said for her to stop messing with them. Then later in the afternoon she complained of her feet hurting....I looked at them and they looked as if she had stepped on a bed of nails, red prick marks on her feet....hmmmm.
Well low and behold, she had contracted Hand Foot and Mouth disease from none other than my Brother, who got it from his daughter who got it from a baby! Thankfully it only affected her hands and feet. My bigger little brother wasn't so lucky. His mouth blistered so, he could barely eat - as a matter of fact he said he could only eat Cool Whip!!
............to be continued!
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