Mom has not felt well for the past 3 weeks. Her caregiver said she's getting better, but I'm just not sure if I should bring her to the doctor. I have very little clue of what needs to be done for mom. That was Wednesday, and I prayed about it. I felt increasingly unsettled that afternoon and ended up paying mom a quick visit. The right side of her face near the jaw line was severely swollen, to my surprise. I thought, "OK, God, it's a clear enough sign that I should bring her to her PCP." I called the doctor right away for an appointment and brought her there the following day. During our drive to the clinic, mom kept dozing off, and I thought she must be having a bad flu or something. At the PCP's clinic, we found out mom's bp was 60/ 30-ish. I don't know what that means except that I have never heard any one with such low bp. The doctor mentioned something about mom being anemic, which was news to us. I was told to bring mom to the hospital through the ER for blood transfusion. The PCP didn't say anything about mom's swollen jaw because tests need to be done to determine that.
In the ER, mom was treated right away; she didn't have to wait because her bp dropped to 50/30 ish. AFter running some tests, the attending doctor there said mom's very sick and needed to stay in the hospital. The picture became clearer: mom had a bad infection, which could have caused her bp to drop, anemia, and possible bleeding from her inside.
It was a little rough at times, but God's watched over us. During mom's hospital stay, I discovered that mom's alzheimer sometimes didn't affect her as much, especially during the evening. In other words, her mind would be "in" and "out." There were moments of clarity, when mom could recognize me and communicate with me in meaningful ways. In one of those moments, I explained to her where she was and why she was there. I told her that she sometimes would not recognize me because she has alzheimer, and it's OK for her not to remember me but that she should try to remember God and to pray and rejoice always (常常禱告、喜樂，凡事謝恩). (I also said that even if she couldn't remember God, God does not forget her. Well, I think I needed to believe that more than mom does.) Mom showed signs of comprehension by nodding and saying, 感謝神，多謝妳. I read her Psalm 23, prayed with her. Mom had difficulty saying long sentences, though she uttered a couple of short phrases on her own to ask God to help her 常常喜樂, 福杯滿溢. That gave me tremendous joy since I haven't witnessed mom praying on her own for quite a long time. The brief moment of being able to communicate to mom was important to me.
It's a challenge to take care of an alzheimer parent, but when I pray, God will show me what to do. He's still giving me chances to do a better job. Pray that I'll do better to please Him and to bless mom. Amen.
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