Driving Miss Shirley..

Today was Mom's first check up since being discharged from the hospital. She went to our wonderful internist who gave her a thorough exam. "My goodness, that just isn't the same heart at all!" he told her happily. Let's run a few tests and see how everything else looks". Laura,the FNP stuck her head in the door just to say "Hi" and see how everything was going. Teresa was in and out taking blood, running the EKG, taking her for a chest xray. It's so comforting to be back in a familiar office again. You see, he is my family's internist also so I can officially claim him. My children went from pediatrician to him, so to say that we are all very close and we have great faith in his care is an understatement. You may recall, he is the one that first noticed a murmur in Mom's heart and was following it until November when he said "Whoops, don't like the sound of that" during her routine physical that began this journey. Dad and Mom came by and picked me up today so that I could go to the appointment with them. It was a bit humorous when they pulled up in their silver Park Avenue with Dad driving and Mom in the back seat behind him waving. I thought of the Queen Mum waving as she is escorted through a crowd. Mom isn't allowed to ride in the front seat until her sternum is fully healed. The last thing she would need right now would be an airbag or impact on her chest, so she sits in the back. "Driving Miss Shirley" dad calls it, I still think it looks rather royal. We arrived at the clinic and dad pulled up to the door and helped her out of the back seat with her cute portable oxygen compressor. I'm serious, it is rather cute. I should have taken a photo.. I forgot. From there he went to park and we walked into the lobby, took the elevator upstairs and down the hallway to the office. Dad came in a few minutes later. Did you notice something there? No wheelchair. Mom walked and without much problem except for fussing about the oxygen hose that was made for a much taller person no doubt. Her EKG was very good, and her oxygen saturation is ok, but needs some more time. It seems that most of the fluid that they removed from her 'tap' in the hospital has returned. "Don't worry, that is not unexpected" Dr D says so we won't worry. We only are to worry if she gains more that 3 lbs in a day or 5 lbs in a week or becomes short of breath. That would be an indication that the fluid was increasing. Let's see.. 3 lbs in a day or 5 lbs in a week...hmmm.. we were at the hospital for 15 days and I gained...AxB=C)7x2+1..Oh my goodness, I didn't gain weight on that restaurant food or midnight Hershey bar after all.. It is all fluid! Whew.  Seriously, Mom is recovering as expected though she was completely worn out after her appointment. She still has a lot of healing to do and yet needs to move around to keep that fluid off, but it hurts to move around so she should take a pain pill but that makes her sleep which causes fluid build up.Arrrgghhh. It makes one feel like the gerbel in the cage or 'which came first, the chicken or the egg'. 
Dad has a golf date tomorrow and at first he declined. Mom and I both told him to go and it didn't take much arm twisting to talk him into it. A day on the course with weather like we are having of late will do him a world of good. I guess Mom could ride in the cart with him so he could still be "Driving Miss Shirley". 
Hope you had a great day. We certainly did
Cheryl