Happy Day After Merry Christmas

I'm offering this cute little Christmasy/winter photo instead of one from our Christmas morning cuz everyone has 'bed head' and I don't think they would appreciate having that out there. Just picture lots of people and three dogs sitting around opening presents and wrapping paper flying...there, that was our Christmas.

Things didn't start off so fabulous. On Christmas Eve mom had to go for her scheduled dialysis. I got a phone call from one of the nurses telling me her hemoglobin was extremely low and that she needed a blood transfusion. Oh, ok. I'll just run her down to the nearest blood bank and do that. Getting any information from her that I could actually use was next to impossible. Some 'infusion center' wasn't answering their phone so she told me I needed to take her to the ER. Sure, just show up, tell them, "Hi, my mom's hemoglobin is really low and she needs a blood transfusion." Well, basically that's what I ended up doing. The stupid doctor wouldn't even call the ER and tell them she was coming in. Naturally, they don't do blood transfusions on a regular basis in the ER so she was admitted. When we walked into the ER all I had was a copy of her lab results. Oh, and when I told the nurse at the dialysis center that I was concerned about her having to sit in the waiting room of the ER all day, she actually told me I should tell them mom was having chest pain. WHAAATTTT????? Yeah, I'm going to lie about it....make them waste their time on tests and consultations that aren't necessary...not to mention make it look like mom is experiencing symptoms she's not. Gawd....I am still not believing our medical system. Oh, and P.S. she STILL hasn't seen her kidney specialist. I've called that freaking office 3 times for an appointment and I've been told every time that they don't have her discharge summary from the hospital and I will receive a call as soon as it comes in.

Mom was admitted to the hospital for her blood transfusion and naturally she was very upset that she wasn't going to be home for Christmas Eve. I reminded her that everyone else who was admitted wasn't spending Christmas Eve with their families either. It seemed to help a little bit. Sara's flight was delayed coming in but she got here safe and sound. It was so good to get her home.

Christmas morning we weren't sure how long it was going to be until mom was discharged from the hospital and so we waited around to hear from the doctor after he/she made rounds. Opening presents would have to wait.

It seemed like everyone we talked to was having a not so merry Christmas. One of Sara's roommates was supposed to drive from Reno to Sacramento with one of the dogs to spend Christmas with her family. The weather was so bad, and there was so much snow that she didn't think she was going to be able to go. She was all alone Christmas morning...but eventually she was able to make the trip . Then Sara got word that her other dog who was spending Christmas with the previous owner, killed one of the dogs. Yeah, Merry Christmas, your dog is dead. While no one saw or heard anything, the poor little dog was found dead out in the backyard. Now, it was old so it could have had a stroke or a heart attack, but I find it very unlikely since this is the same dog that attacked Charlie when Sara was here earlier this year. THEN...we found out that my sister-in-laws father had a heart attack and was in the hospital. He's been in failing health for quite some time, but still....

We decided to open presents to distract us from all the craziness. It was so fun to watch the kids open all their presents. I don't care if they are all grown up, I love it. They had a blast, and I think we even surprised them with a few of the gifts they received. Laughs, smiles, and happiness were in order and let me tell you, it felt great. It really did.

The kids and I went up to the hospital to see mom while Scott started making Christmas dinner. By the time we got to the hospital, the doctor had come and gone, saying she could go home. Fabulous. We just had to wait for the nurse to do all the paperwork and she was ours.

Scott made a fabulous dinner...and I do mean fabulous. Everyone agreed it was the best Christmas dinner ever. Beef tenderloin, glazed carrots, roasted potatoes, delicious salad, rolls, and pumpkin pie. Well, he didn't make the pie, but he did everything else and we had such a great time together. I just wish we could all be together more often. It did my heart good to see all my kids together and to have mom home.

Today is dialysis and a doctor's appointment. It's ridiculously cold and windy outside and I don't have any plans to do any After Christmas shopping so I'll be staying indoors as much as possible. I have a ham in the oven right now (gift from someone) so we can munch on that the rest of the day...and I need to hook up my brand new Canon Scanner that Scott gave me. I'm pretty jazzed about that. He also gave me a cooler for my laptop and I absolutely LOVE it.
Time to brush the glaze on the ham. Later.