The Part of the Story we haven't shared....

What I left out of this story, is that through this all...the waiting and procedures and nausea....I flew to NYC on January 17th to take a quick last trip to my happy place before I couldn't travel for a while (and it was already scheduled). I left on a Thursday and as usual, my mom was staying at my house with the pups. I texted her in the morning and knew she had made it to my house. I landed at 2pm EST and let her know, then texted later, and again later. As the night went, I started to get worried but figured I was just worrying for no reason. By the morning, I was worried enough to ask the neighbors to go over and knock, thinking they would wake the dogs and thus my mom. Unfortunately, that was not the case. My mom had had a significant stroke on Thursday, which started (our best guess) around 11am - and she got to the hospital the following morning around 7am. It breaks my heart to know she laid there for so long. We had miraculous doctors and they performed nothing short of a miracle. Today marks 18 days in the hospital. But for someone who was supposed to be dead, then paralyzed and perhaps never talking again - she proved them all wrong! She is walking, talking and very much alive. She is weak on her right side (luckily a left-hander), has expressive aphasia and apraxia but is making steady progress every day.  My sister and I are amazed and we all cannot believe this all happened within a 2 week period. We are very strong women and will get through this because what else do you do - but I am not going to say, it has not been a rough month. My sister is truly my superpower and with the two of us - has a lot on her plate. My mom will live with her for a while when she is discharged this Wednesday with hopes that she will be able to live independently again one day soon. It is a crazy, mixed up world - count your blessings every day and live your life! and if you wouldn't mind....add my mom to your prayers.