Wait A Minute Here... 12/16/2011
 (Ya'll...I am pausing here to let you know that I was informed by my big brother Larry Buck that I was about to miss a whole segment of the Tollisons Family. This time that I was about to miss was a very important piece of our history, so I am backing up before we move on to Murray Lane.) As most of you know, my mom has been in and out of the hospital since October 31, 2011 and has not totally been herself. Her story got a little mixed up for a while, so tomorrow I will back up and tell a portion that she left out. I am going to update you on her current condition in today's blog. WARNING...today's blog is long, but needed!  Helen Tollison is the main character in these stories that I've been telling for the past few months and she is currently going through a part of her story that I will tell much later...A part that has not been very pleasant for her. One thing for sure is that her family loves her dearly and have all rallied around her to help her get better. I know that it falls on some of my brothers and sisters more than others, but even with that her grandchildren and even great grandchildren have stepped up to the plate to take up the slack. In today's blog, I'll try not to be too long with it, but there is so much to tell and I want my readers to be aware of Helen's latest trial. Mom has had bad circulation in her legs and feet for a long time and had gotten to the point where she was facing amputation of one or both legs. On October 31st, she was admitted to the hospital in Missouri to have good veins taken out of one of her legs and transplanted into the leg that they were trying to save. The surgery was supposed to take around 45 minutes to an hour ended up being 5 1/2 hours.  Because she had been under for such an extended amount of time, the drugs she had been given did a number on her. After her surgery and we had talked to the Doctor, everyone except my sister Linda and I had went on home, thinking that mom was going to be fine. When Linda and I went in to see her, she was in really bad shape...they were having trouble with her blood pressure and she was losing blood like crazy. Linda and I called all the family back because we thought we were losing her. We promised her we wouldn't let go of her hand...and we didn't...someone was holding her hand the whole time until they took her to Intensive Care.  As she became a little stronger, they moved her to her own room, but she was hallucinating and convinced that what she was seeing was really there. She was still in so much pain with the foot and leg that was going to be amputated that she was continually asking for pain medicine which in turn caused more confusion. I spent the night with her one of the nights before her surgery and it broke my heart to see her like that.  We were expecting the amputation surgery to be as long or longer than her previous one, but it was over and done with much quicker than we had anticipated and she was back in a regular room. The problem we ran into after this procedure was the phantom pains and the medication they give for that...this wasn't a good combination for mom. They started her in extensive rehabilitation at the hospital and thought she would be able to withstand it, but she couldn't. She was still very weak and was confused at times and her speech had become extremely slurred, leading us to believe that she could have quite possibly had a stroke. We still thought that the medicines they were giving her for various things just weren't mixing well.  A Hopitalist came in to see mom and took her off all narcotics (I think they had her on 3 or 4 of them). They decided to give her something for what they call Hospital Neurosis. We were told that it would make her sleep a little more. On the night before Thanksgiving, I got a call from my sister, Sondra letting me know that mom was really having a hard time and they were trying to find out what was going on. On Thanksgiving day, I was in Kentucky, but was staying in contact with everyone and talked to my mom on the phone...told her I loved her and she was going to be okay. She could hardly speak and it made me cry.  That evening, Linda, Shannon, Andrea Jane and Scotty sang with mom...some old hymns she loved. She has sung them all her life and she would (in her slurred - hard to understand voice) let them know when they sung the words wrong. (that's my mom) She even wanted Andrea to be sure and let the Doctor know that Jesus loved him. Bless her heart, she could hardly speak, but she wanted him to know that. On the next Friday morning, I got a call from Linda saying that mom was unresponsive ...they couldn't wake her up. Bobby and I hopped in the car and traveled to Missouri. On the trip down, I would check periodically on her condition and was asked about life supports and what I thought we should do. This is when the realization hit me that my mom could be leaving us. I cried off and on as we headed to Cape Girardeau, Missouri.  When we arrived at the hospital, she was doing better and was talking however slurred, but talking. She was confused again about her bed. She asked me why they had her in a gunny sack (which of course they didn't...she was confused) By Friday evening she wasn't yet able to feed herself, but was talking to me and Bobby up a storm. We spent the night with Andrea Jane's family and went back the next morning to find out she not only had fed herself some Cream of Wheat, she had been able to hold her coffee cup and drink hot coffee by herself. When she left the hospital, she was taken to a Nursing Home in Sikeston, Missouri where she was to continue some rehabilitation and just get better. Well...this is where we are right now in her health saga... She is back in the hospital with an infection in her stub which is not healing. Her leg will never heal if she doesn't start eating...she needs to be eating lots of protein for this healing process. In talking with my brother Larry today, he said that she may be facing major surgery once again to remove more of that leg due to it not healing. Thanks for giving me this opportunity to share what has been going on with mom. We love her and want her better....and MOM if you are reading this...please start eating so we can have you in our lives for many more years to come. Comments Your comment will be posted after it is approved. Leave a Reply |  Author
Paula Tollison Andrews Maupin I am married to Bobby and live in the Nashville, TN area, working as Executive Assistant to both the Director of Sales and General Manager of FOX17, MyTV30 & CW58 television I have 3 wonderful sons and daughters in
love (Brad & Holly Andrews, Bryan & Stacy Andrews and Brandon
& Ashley Andrews) from Tulsa, St. Louis & Springfield
respectively. They have given me 9 precious grandbabies. (Joseph,
Cooper, Margo, Sloan, Jonas, Nora, Everett, Lawson and Blythe & Gma
loves them so much) I also have 2 great stepsons and daughter in love
(Jonathan & Kathryn Maupin and William Maupin) from Lexington,
Kentucky.
As a lady who's lived through both good & bad circumstances in my life, I've learned and continue to learn a lot of "life lessons". Along the way I have been inspired to be a better me. God is faithful in ALL circumstances and His love covers all. My hope is that you will be inspired to be who you were meant to be. I have been writing this blog about my mom and dad since September of 2011. You can find their story from the beginning by going to the Stories link. Happy Reading!!!   ArchivesMarch 2012 |
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