Urban Homestead Update

As 2010 rounds the bend into 2011, our family has been invaded by the pneumonia bug. First, we got a call from a family friend that Mickey's mom had been brought to the hospital by ambulance totally confused, not breathing well, and had something wrong with her heart. Scary enough all by itself. After 2 days of trying to communicate with the hospital long distance who kept telling us we didn't need to be there, we realized we couldn't, and Mickey headed to Tennessee to be with his mom. He had the beginnings of  what we thought was a cold when he left, but didn't think much about it. With all the stress of worrying that his mom had had a stroke because of her horrible confused state (she had no idea where she was, called people incorrect names, etc., etc.), living at the hospital, and getting almost no sleep because of hospital routines, his immune system finally fell apart and what started as a cold turned into pneumonia. We didn't realize it until he made it home after his mom was discharged from the hospital.

When he got off the plane last Saturday night around midnight, I knew he had much more than a bad cold, and begged him not to go to work on Sunday. He went to work anyway, but couldn't make it through the day, and by Monday morning I was able to convince him to go to the doctor, who said he was about 2 steps from being admitted to the hospital himself.

Two weeks later, I can happily report that both Mickey and his mom are both on the mend. She is on strict bed rest at home with nurse, aide, and physical therapist visits at regular intervals and is of course receiving daily phone calls from us. We can hear the steady improvement in her voice. He is on strict bed rest here with me to hover over him, making sure he's getting his medications at prescribed times, drinking fluids, and eating properly.

So we won't be having much of a Christmas celebration this year as it's more important to get everyone well. I will look at the silver lining and feel blessed that I have them both safe and sound, almost healthy, and somehow (shouldn't say it out loud), I have successfully avoided the bug.

Wishing you all happy, healthy holidays.