The last two weeks have been the most exhausting – mentally and physically – days of my life. One day last week, I gave my Chihuahua my hormone pill, and I took her prednisone. I’m seriously exhausted.
Ten days ago, a brain biopsy revealed my 85-year-old mother has at least eight inoperable, malignant brain tumors. Just two weeks prior, she was babysitting my 7-year-old granddaughter, Tilleigh, and my 4-year-old granddaughter, Evie, by herself with no problems.
She did, though, have some tell-tale signs in earlier weeks that something was amiss. She had been falling, but had broken no bones and suffered no major injuries. Despite visits to various medical institutions, she was never admitted and we didn’t know exactly what the cause was for her falls.
Things changed dramatically on June 8. Because of the multiple falls, my mother came to stay at my house during the last week of May. As the days passed, it was evident her health was declining. So when she fell on June 8, my husband and I called an ambulance and requested they take her to Erlanger hospital.
What happened at Erlanger for the next 11 days has blown me away. My mother was treated as though she was every staff member’s mother. Within two hours of arriving at the emergency room, she had been examined by three physicians and about four medical students, as well as nurses, technicians and other staff members. Just a few hours later, an MRI revealed a “mass” in my mother’s brain. They quickly learned that there was, indeed, a reason she had been falling.