Shiny beads sailing swiftly through the sky, metallic disks thrown from above, pretty, plushy stuff tossed through the air. Yes, it was Mardi Gras time. A time for fun, sun (finally), walking down the street with a bud (you pick which kind), and this year, for me, worry.
My mom lives in a small rural town (no street lights, not even one). However, on Fat Tuesday, her small town can literally sink into the swamps from the weight of the people attending the parish's (yes, we have parishes here, not countys) very last Mardi Gras parade. We usually spend the first half of the morning frying tortillias, making re-fried beans, boiling and deboning chickens, and shredding lettuce in order to lay out a Mexican style spread for the once a year guests that show up at her house for Fat Tuesday. My mom loves it. The parade passes right in front of her house. It's safe, it's fun, everyone has a good time, and it is an awesome people watching event. This year, it wasn't. This year my baby sister went into cardiac arrest on Tuesday morning.
She woke my brother-in-law up with a snorting that sounded similar to snoring. This caused him to push on her trying to get her to roll over possibly stopping the snore. When she didn't, he sat up and checked her a bit more carefully. She was gasping for breath. Thankfully, he didn't try to get her to stop, but called 911 instead. They arrived in three minutes and found my sister dead, her body still warm. After three tries with the defibrillator, my sister's heart began beating again. However, she failed to wake up. She was taken to the emergency room where a team of ER doctors and nurses worked to get her in stable condition which consisted of being placed on a ventilator and inducing a semi coma. She spent the day in trauma, and later that night was placed in ICU.
Her doctors are now running tests on her to check for brain activity in order to measure brain damage. It's a long test, taking four to five hours to complete. We've had a bit of good news though, finally after what seemed like one of the longest nights I've had in a while. Theresa opened her eyes this afternoon. She responded to questions by blinking her eyes and shaking her head (saying yes) in responses. When she looked at her husband, she cried. This is positive news and gives us something to hold on to.
What I've learned from this. You never get to say all that you need to say...no matter how hard you try. Sometimes you argue with the people you love even when you don't want to. We're human, it's what we do. I'm glad I'm getting a second chance to love, hate, laugh, shout, get angry, make up, go shopping, say no to fishing, and whatever else happens with my sister again. I'm glad I don't have to miss her.
My mom lives in a small rural town (no street lights, not even one). However, on Fat Tuesday, her small town can literally sink into the swamps from the weight of the people attending the parish's (yes, we have parishes here, not countys) very last Mardi Gras parade. We usually spend the first half of the morning frying tortillias, making re-fried beans, boiling and deboning chickens, and shredding lettuce in order to lay out a Mexican style spread for the once a year guests that show up at her house for Fat Tuesday. My mom loves it. The parade passes right in front of her house. It's safe, it's fun, everyone has a good time, and it is an awesome people watching event. This year, it wasn't. This year my baby sister went into cardiac arrest on Tuesday morning.
She woke my brother-in-law up with a snorting that sounded similar to snoring. This caused him to push on her trying to get her to roll over possibly stopping the snore. When she didn't, he sat up and checked her a bit more carefully. She was gasping for breath. Thankfully, he didn't try to get her to stop, but called 911 instead. They arrived in three minutes and found my sister dead, her body still warm. After three tries with the defibrillator, my sister's heart began beating again. However, she failed to wake up. She was taken to the emergency room where a team of ER doctors and nurses worked to get her in stable condition which consisted of being placed on a ventilator and inducing a semi coma. She spent the day in trauma, and later that night was placed in ICU.
Her doctors are now running tests on her to check for brain activity in order to measure brain damage. It's a long test, taking four to five hours to complete. We've had a bit of good news though, finally after what seemed like one of the longest nights I've had in a while. Theresa opened her eyes this afternoon. She responded to questions by blinking her eyes and shaking her head (saying yes) in responses. When she looked at her husband, she cried. This is positive news and gives us something to hold on to.
What I've learned from this. You never get to say all that you need to say...no matter how hard you try. Sometimes you argue with the people you love even when you don't want to. We're human, it's what we do. I'm glad I'm getting a second chance to love, hate, laugh, shout, get angry, make up, go shopping, say no to fishing, and whatever else happens with my sister again. I'm glad I don't have to miss her.
CPR for the win, Alex.
That's my sis in the pic.
ReplyDeleteI have a sister myself ...I can not even dare to think what I would do .. I hope all the best for you and your family .
ReplyDeleteOh, thank goodness! I am so sorry that you all had to go through that but it sounds like good news at the end. For that, I am happy for your family:-)
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by my blog and leaving such sweet comments. I hope to see you back there soon:-)
Praying for you, your sister, and your family!
ReplyDeleteI hope things go ok. This is scary.
ReplyDeleteI have been to New Orlean's once in 2006. We were in the French Quarter and I LOVED it. I love to see real history. A waiter at Antoine's took us on a tour of the restaurant. I guess it was a speak easy? We never did a Bayou (spelling?) tour. Maybe some day.