What A Week

There is something about being ill that really lowers your ability to deal with things. I find my patience is less, my tolerance for noise and chaos is less and my emotional threshold is much lower. All of these things have been tested this week.

Now I have to admit that I detest being sick, which starts me off on the wrong foot anyway, but this week...

The hardest part was finding out my mother would be going in for heart surgery. It wasn't planned so it really threw everyone for a loop. Of course, I'm across the country so of no help. Dad has been travelling back and forth from the hospital every day 2.5hrs each way. My brother has been the one to contact the doctor/nurses to keep up with what's going on but has his own wife to worry about. It is the extended family that has stepped up.

I know that my parents have a strong support network, family and friends, that will get them through this time. The daughter in me agonizes over not being there, but a really smart friend (who's been through this herself) asked me if I would make a difference by going. The reality is I would not. The support my mother would like from me is my attention, which can be just as effective over the phone as in person. So once she gets home I'll make frequent phone calls, letting her vent/chat/nag to her heart's content (no pun intended ;-) ). Of course I'll send flowers too.

It also means I can now take the $1000 it would have cost me to fly down and put it towards the new furnace we just been told we need.