Getting Personal + Homearama Preview

Hello friends –

Sorry for dropping out of sight on an unplanned blogger break – this year keeps throwing curve balls at me, and it’s wearing me out!  Normally I keep this sort of stuff to myself, but it’s been building up, and sometimes sharing helps to ease the load.  

We headed out of town for vacation, and six hours in my van started overheating.  Again.  While we were stuck in a huge traffic jam on the highway.  The idea of being stuck on the road with three kids in tow, sent me into a panic.   My husband flipped on our emergency flashers and we managed to make it to the nearest exit and to a gas station before it stopped running (thank God).

However, while we were at the gas station trying to figure out what to do, I got a text from my dad that my mom had been fainting/falling and they were at the ER.  (Nevermind the fact that he had been trying to call/text well before I received this text – highly frustrated with my phone and its disappearing text tricks).  While there, it happened several more times, in front of doctors, while she was on monitors.  Essentially, her heart was stopping and restarting, at one point flat lining.  My dad said they had the paddles nearby and a shot of epinephrine, which fortunately, they didn’t have to use.  I finally got in touch with my dad and the hospital staff was telling him that we should come back.  They were putting in a temporary pacemaker.  Say what?

So we turned around and drove back to see my sweet mom in the cardiac ICU with a big old goose egg of a bump on her head, and several other bumps and bruises to match.  Suffice to say, we were all pretty freaked out.  My mom is a healthy woman – thin, stays active, eats well.  She’s literally never been in the hospital.  She was born at home (and I’m adopted), and has never had any health problems, so this was something that was highly unexpected to say the least.  Just the day before she was at my oldest son’s baseball game.  Thank goodness she was at home when this all happened and not driving or far away from a hospital where she could get the help she needed.

After seeing her and talking with my parents, apparently, pacemakers are quite common nowadays, and the procedure is minimally invasive and safe.  She was in good hands and we decided to continue on with our vacation plans (we were also meeting up with my brother-in-law and his family).  So, a trip that should have taken 12 hours, ended up taking about 24 hours.  The upside is that we were able to swap my van with my husband’s SUV and put our worries to rest about the car breaking down (although after we put coolant in the radiator, we didn’t have any issues).  Mind you, the first time this happened, the auto shop couldn’t find the origin of the problem, and I hadn’t had any other issues since.

My mom is doing beautifully now that the permanent pacemaker has been put in, and our biggest challenge will be slowing her down, as it’s just not her natural state of being.  Fortunately, my dad is up to the task.

So, as you might imagine, it’s been an emotional and exhausting “vacation” week, with the week before vacation is always a mad dash of activity as well.  I’m hoping to get back into a blogging rhythm of some sort, and I appreciate your patience.

On a design note, I am still planning on hitting Homearama this week before it ends.  So many beautiful homes on the tour this year!

It’s looking like it will be another impressive show this year!