It WAS my fault.  AGAIN:  As some know, my mom landed in the hospital two times over Memorial Day weekend.  The first time was on Saturday evening of that weekend.  My mom called just as I was finishing dinner with my sister, my brother-in-law, Fr. John as well as his sister and brother-in-law.  When my sister and I got to the hospital, it looked like my mom had a urinary tract infection (UTI) and they eventually sent her home with some antibiotics.  My mom figured she would tough it out the rest of the weekend and all would be fine.  However, something just wasn’t quite right, but she couldn’t name it at this point.  The following day (Sunday) we had an extended family gathering because of the Memorial Day holiday.  By early evening, my mom wanted to go home because she wasn’t feeling well again.  I drove my parents home, and my mom, somewhat uncharacteristically, wanted to go to bed as soon as we walked in the door.  I thought about spending the night because I was concerned, but I decided to go home.  At 3:30 a.m., I heard my phone go off; it was a text from my mom saying she was feeling absolutely miserable and that she wanted to go to the hospital.  It was only by the grace of God that I heard my phone because my mom decided to text rather than call me.  She figured if I heard the text notification, it was meant to be otherwise she would wait until morning.  Thankfully, my notifications are set so that if I don’t acknowledge them, they keep “dinging” every 2 minutes.  It took about 30 minutes of “dinging,” but I eventually woke up and heard it (and before you ask, YES my mom promised to call rather than text next time … she didn’t want to bother any of us).  When we got to the hospital and lab tests started coming back, things moved rather quickly.  Her white blood cell count was critically high; as a result, they began to pump her with steroids and antibiotics.  She had an infection, but they couldn’t determine the source, agent or location.  Throughout the week my mom was in the hospital, she kept complaining about her knee, the very knee that was replaced last fall.  She kept telling the attending physician that her knee was warm, hard and something just wasn’t right with it.  Unfortunately, the attending physician didn’t agree with my mom and dismissed her concern.  After a week of waiting for cultures and doing further blood tests, a decision was finally made to seek an orthopedic consult.  A few additional tests revealed the infection WAS at the knee replacement site and had led to sepsis.  She had surgery that Sunday.  The knee joint was entirely removed and a temporary knee was put into place.  The temporary knee will remain in place for about a year, thus giving the site a chance to heal before a new knee replacement would be “installed.”  She is now on an IV antibiotic regiment twice daily for six weeks.  She was just transferred to a rehab center, so it’s back to all the “tortures” following surgery … physical and occupational therapy.  Thankfully, the rehab center is nice; the food is good, and they even have a small bistro and a Starbucks café for visitors.
 
During her stay at the hospital, I decided to give her these noise-canceling headphones I often used on plane trips over the years.  With all the traveling I did while living in Washington, DC, many years ago, these headphones came in handy and were used often.  They would drown out all the noise on a plane and let me listen to my music or videos.  These headphones were also my magic trick in being able to fall asleep on flights.  I’ve had these headphones for close to twenty years now and they continue to work well.  I brought them to the hospital so my mom could enjoy some “silence” amid all the noise that is generated in a hospital whether from a roommate, shift changes or medical equipment.
 
Given that my mom had sepsis and was recovering from a joint re-do surgery, there were teams of doctors in and out of her room frequently.  One day, my mom started to notice these little black specs around her pillow.  She thought it was dried blood but didn’t pay too much attention to it; after all, her focus was on her knee pain!  Unfortunately, the black spots multiplied each day.  Eventually, the black specs caught the attention of both the attending and infectious disease physicians.  They noticed them not only on her pillow, but also all over both ears.  They couldn’t determine where these little black specs were coming from, but something just wasn’t adding up.  It wasn’t dried blood, but some substance that couldn’t be identified.  These minuscule specs were being given serious attention by the doctors given all that my mom was going through.  At this point, she had a pole filled with 7 IV bags and was being monitored closely.  As a result, these black specs or whatever they were, ended up getting a lot of attention.  One day, while the team was in my mom’s room trying to hash out the source of these specs, my mom had a mini-revelation.  My mom glanced at the headphones but initially dismissed them as the source because she thought, “Mike wouldn’t give me anything, especially something electronic, that wasn’t top notch.”  Well, she decided to pick up the headphones with one of the doctors present.  “Good heavens,” she exclaimed.  “It WAS the headphones.  Wait until I tell my son!”  The minuscule black specs that were getting all this attention were nothing more than the foam from the ear cushions that were disintegrating rapidly into fine little particles.  All breathed a sigh of relief.  When I finally got to the hospital and saw the “evidence,” I couldn’t help but laugh.  Thankfully, this issue didn’t require surgery or an additional IV bag! Her son just needed to get his act together and get his mom something a bit more updated and top notched!
 
Celebrating the Class of 2019:  Next weekend at the 10:00 a.m. mass, we will gather as a parish community to celebrate the High School and College Class of 2019.  If you have a high school or college graduate in the Class of 2019, please send us their name and the school from which they are graduating by following the link on the home page of our parish website.  These students will be acknowledged during mass, and there will be a small reception afterward!  Congratulations to the Class of 2019.
 
Happy Father’s Day.  Enjoy the week.  Know of my prayers.
 
In Christ,
 
gmb
gmb@sjascs.org