Synopsis

My mom sent this e-mail late Saturday night/early Sunday morning - it's a good run through of all leading up to the events for Carson and Great Grandma. Keep the prayers coming. Great Grandma is doing just okay - very short of breath and on oxygen. More tests to check that out on the way today. She was confused last night too - when the cardiologist was in I happened to have stopped by. She reported she had five kids - 3 boys and 2 girls (she had 2 of each). When it was time to name them all, she did come up with only four names. We'll see how things go...I truly thought last night that for the first time in her 96 1/2 years I think she looks old. Pretty impressive when you think about it. I'll keep the updates coming!

Well, it is after midnight, and I just got home from the ER / Hospital for the second night in a row at about the same time.

I'll put this "in a nutshell":

1) Thursday early morning, Mom fell in her bathroom. I thought I heard her shut the door (she NEVER shuts the door), so I listened for the "click" of the brakes on her walker as she would leave the bathroom...never heard it, so I went to check and found her sitting on the floor. Last eve, as I was putting supper on the table, she went to the bathroom and then into her bedroom...never came back for supper , so I went to check, and she was on the floor again.

Luckily...nothing broken and not even a bruise, but I took her to ER to determine what was going on;.....Urinary tract infection. They admitted her to the hospital. Most elderly get confused when the have a UTI, but not this gal...sharp as a tack and told the Dr.s "I'm shamefully healthy! She also tried to hold the paramedics hand as he drew labwork from her!

She seemed a little weak and out of it at suppertime tonight, but I was back later and she seemed back to her sharp self. She is also quite out of breath, which has been and issue for a few months. When I talked to her cardiologist about it a few months ago, he really wasn't concerned. They ARE going to do some investigating, but I wouldn't be surprised if it's not just a tired old heart.

2) Many of you know that Travis (my son-in-law) was diagnosed with pneumonia about 3 weeks ago . He has slowly gotten better...some days has low energy, but says he feels MUCH better than he sounds. He had mono twice by the time Carson was 18 months past transplant, and , although he is usually very healthy, when he DOES get sick , he gets knocked down hard.

Well, then 2 weeks ago tonight we had Carson in ER and HE was diagnosed with pneumonia. Two days later was no better , so they changed antibiotic; Two days later, on Christmas Eve was still no better, so they decided to use both antibiotics His fever broke during that night (He slept through supper and most of gift opening on Christmas Eve). He never has gotten completely better, and today, felt rotten and spiked a fever again. So, Trav stayed home to put Grace to bed, and Rhonda and I took Carson in to ER. His pneumonia is considerably worse, so they admitted him...he is 5 doors down from his Great Grandma Gladys !

He is such a trooper. Two weeks ago, he told Rhonda :"I need to go to Innovis ER and get a shot so I can feel better." Tonight, when Rhonda said they were putting an IV in and he would stay in the hospital for IV medication he said "I need that!" This kid doesn't cry for labs; watches them draw blood and start the IV, and thanks them when they are done. He told me "Grammy; Go and sit over there, because I'm going to cough and you might get sick!"

Ok, so that wasn't so short and in a nutshell, but please pray for Mom and Carson. God has answered many, many prayers for Carson, and he has stayed remarkably well over the past 7 years. He hasn't been a hospital patient since he had his last open heart surgery almost 4 years ago, and has only been hospitalized for "THE BIG THINGS: the Kasai procedure, which was at 7 weeks of age, to join his liver to his small intestine, Open heart at 5 1/2 months, Liver Transplant at 8 months (that was a continuous hospitalization between those two surgeries), and his second open heart 3 months before he turned 4. He also returned to the hospital for an infection in his Hickman IV line a week after he was discharged from his transplant. Other than that, if anyone in the house is ill, he is usually the healthy one.