Friday, January 13, 2017

It has been a really BAD Week

This has been one really bad week....except for one very good thing. Our son, Karl, and his wife, Amy, welcomed their son, Jacob Ryan, to the world yesterday afternoon. So, we are now grandparents which is a fairly amazing thing. Baby is one month early and over six pounds with a full head of hair. Everybody involved is doing well.

And now to the worst of the bad stuff that has happened this week .....

As those who follow my blog know, I said I was offline and dealing with a major family situation. After I and my out of state brother were unable to get my Mom on the phone Monday evening, Scott and  I went to her house. Around 11 pm I found her on the kitchen floor and she had clearly had a stroke. Dallas Fire Rescue came and were simply wonderful with me as well as my Mom.

Mom has had a major stroke and the prognosis is pretty bad. Near as I can tell by the phone messages on her answering machine, she was down at least 13 hours if not longer. That means the damage to a large section of the right side of her brain is not reversible. Her neurologist gently walked me through the visual record via MRI so I could understand the reality of the situation. She is now experiencing brain swelling and additional hemorrhaging so she is she is gradually getting worse. Everyone involved with her care is doing everything they possibly can, but some things just can't be stopped. I am braced as well as possible for what seems to be, at this point, inevitable.

If that was not enough, while coming home from her hospital yesterday, I had a car accident. I am more sore than normal and in new places this morning, but I think I will be okay. My car is probably totaled though that is not official from the insurance company yet. Sandi was exhausted after going to the hospital to see Mom the day before so she was not in the car with me yesterday. That was a very good thing as the front seat passenger door is now in the car having massively buckled in as I was hit from the side. Most of the right side of the car is buckled in. So severely it took multiple efforts to get the glove box open for the proof of insurance, etc. for the Plano police and other parties. Amazingly, the airbags, including the door side airbags did not trigger. I do, however, have the front license plate of the other car as it is crammed into the buckled metal of my car.

The other driver was not hurt. His car was a bit better off than mine and he was able to drive away when all was said and done. The Plano PD officer was a huge help as was the wrecker driver that was dispatched to deal with me and the car.

All I can say is that I have really had enough.


16 comments:

Unknown said...

You've had more than enough. It's hard to believe that so many bad things can happen to one family. It seems that your mother is in truly sad condition. Words fail me. Thank goodness for the ray of sunshine that is the grandson. I know he'll be a true blessing to all concerned.

Kevin R. Tipple said...

Thank you, Bill. I saw your post about the chemo this morning and we are very glad things have gone as well as they could.

Terry W. Ervin II said...

When it rains, it seems to storm. I hope and pray that at some point the accumulated flood will drain, revealing some dry soil upon which to stand.

Kevin R. Tipple said...

We are drowning.

Kaye George said...

I'm so sorry about your mom and the car, too. I hope the baby will be what you remember about this day for the longest time. Congrats!!!

Carol N Wong said...

Wow, you have had enough! Glad about the baby. I remember the three years in which my brother, father and mother died. Those where hard times. Other things happened but it I cannot remember them. So sorry to hear that you have had even more bad things happen. I remember when I couldn't get to sleep at night, tossing and turning,and then I got a call that my father had had a stroke. That was back in the 1970s. They told us that it was a mild stroke. I sat with him for hours until he start to feel nauseous. I ran to the critic care desk as they were answering and they only told me to turn him on his side. It turned out later that was when he was hit by a massive stroke that eventually took him two weeks later.

I hope that your mother makes it. One thing in her favor is that it is now 2017.

Margaret Morse said...

I'm so sorry for your troubles. Sometimes I wonder how we make it through these traumatic experiences. I'm a recent reader to your blog, which I really appreciate.

Kevin R. Tipple said...

Thank you, Kaye.

Kevin R. Tipple said...

Thank you, Carol, and I am sorry you have been down this road before. It is 2017, but that is not going to make any difference. A doctor called this afternoon to tell me she is a little worse and to broach the idea of palliative care.

Kevin R. Tipple said...

Thank you, Margaret. And thank you for your comments about the blog. At some point normal operations will resume and there will more book reviews and news and such. I just don't know when that will be right now.

Elizabeth said...

Kevin, I'm so sorry about your mother's stroke and your car wreck, but I am thrilled about the baby! I know you & his parents are too. He's a blessing. Sorry to say that last year, my younger sister had a stroke. Her husband found her but nobody knows how long she was out. She went to ICU, then rehab center, then home, & is slightly better now. I'm sending good thoughts to you & yours.

Kevin R. Tipple said...

Thank you, Elizabeth, and I am sorry you all went through that. Glad she is doing better.

Maureen Harrington said...

Dear Kevin... I hope all goes better for you and your family, soon. The baby is a wonderful gift, and will soon, I hope, be what you all are ready and able to focus on.

Elizabeth Zelvin said...

Kevin, my heart goes out to you--sending all my best wishes, virtual hugs, and prayers if you want 'em. And do hang onto those silver linings: your grandson, the fact that Sandi wasn't in the car, and you're still alive and kicking hard enough to be fed up about it all.

Kevin R. Tipple said...

Thank you, Reine.

Kevin R. Tipple said...

Thank you, Liz.