Life on Borrowed Time

It was our usual Sunday night ritual - I head over to Mom's for dinner, and then we have a talk about things - mostly, about family and Mom's life alone.

My aunt recently had to move back to her home town due to immediate family concerns. Will not go into them here - that's her story to tell, not mine. Suffice it to say, in the wake of Mom's surgery, Mom is doing well.

In fact, Mom and I were talking about her surgery - as I've blogged before, Mom was in and out of the hospital repeatedly in April. So much so that she had only been home four days total in April 2009. In our discussion, I had remarked that I had become rather exhausted by the repeated visits to the hospital, and in fact, had resigned myself to the fact that in those coming months, I would merely expect more hospital visits...and related drama.

My mom's response was that, when she was talking to one of the residents, they decided to send her home to "spend time with her family." In terms of the transplant list, Mom was hovering between number one and number 3. (My aunt would complain about why the hospital wouldn't give her a liver...as much as I wanted to inform her that not only do livers not grow on trees, but that they needed one that her body could accept

On May 3rd, 2009, my mother had come home, frail and weakened due to liver disease. Although her doctors hoped that she would have a donor liver...they saw the odds as against her, and wanted to be sure she spent her last few moments with loved ones. Although positive, they acted in the best manner possible...and saw little chance.

On May 4th, 2009, my mother received a donor liver.

On November 15th, 2009, Mom informed me that although she'll still need to have monthly blood work done, her doctor will not need to see her until February. Although her transplant center is one of the best in the nation, it still came down to the right circumstances happening in the right order...and I am increasingly grateful that Mom is recovering stronger than ever.

Some (mostly comics geeks) would argue that my mother is living on borrowed time, making her a Challenger of the Unknown.

My response to both statements: aren't we all?

(P.S. The picture on the right is of Mom's cat Smokey. It's included simply because, even though taken with a crappy camera, I think it's kind of awesome)