- Sep 5, 2006
- 6,975
- 50
Condolences for your loss, VladLast night, my mom collapsed around 5. She was awake, but extremely confused and in pain. She was sent to the ER in an ambulance. I got to the ER after the rest of my family around 6:45-7pm and was walked back into a room where the ER physician was talking with my family. He gave us a brief rundown on what had happened. On the way to the hospital my mom was sedated with medication, her heart rate dropped and blood pressure was down, but had stabilized a bit. She placed on a ventilator.
The physician explained she needed a CAT scan next. The doctor returned about an hour later and told us the cat scan revealed a ruptured aneurysm in her stomach area. The physician asked us about our/her preference for resuscitation efforts. He further explained to us there were two options, hospice or emergency surgery but had to confirm with surgeon who was on call. We waited for the surgeon to come into the hospital to discuss, but before he arrived, the physician came back into the room. During that time he left and came back was only about 5 minutes. My mother’s heart beat dropped significantly and he recommended removing the tube and switching to hospice. We agreed.
We walked back to see her one last time. The on-call surgeon arrived to her room not long after we did. He had reviewed the CAT scan information and told us that the aneurysm spread up to her chest and that she would have not survived that surgery. Eventually, we pulled the ventilator. She took maybe 5 breaths and passed away.
My mom was a fierce Flyers and hockey fan. When my group of friends started playing organized roller hockey, we did not have a coach. So, she read a few books and became our coach. She was a hard ass, and loved the rough stuff. One of her favorite books to read about hockey was The Code, which is a book about the unwritten rules of hockey fights.
One point, she coached my older brother’s team in the final. She told me to come and suit up because they might need me. I thought I’d get a few shifts here and there, but she stapled my ass to the bench from puck drop to the final whistle! Benched by my own mother, I wonder how many people can say that!
When we graduated from roller to ice hockey, my mom volunteered to take photos from the penalty box for our high school teams. One night, she was taking photos for my brother’s game when she caught a stick in the mouth, causing her to bleed profusely and lose a few teeth. The stick was my brother’s. Instead of checking on our mom, my brother skated off and continued playing like nothing happened. I remember my mom saying she would have been furious at my brother if he stopped to check on her. She was an awesome lady, and I will miss her.
May your Moms memories provide you with guiding lights until you two meet again