I went with Mom to the hospital Tuesday to see about getting her lung biopsy done, since they had found a spot on her lung last week. Mom and her friend came to pick me up around 10:30AM, as Mom had to be at the hospital by 11AM. I fixed my lunch to take with me, in addition to my vitamins, water, and a few other things. Mom’s friend dropped us off and we went in to find the admissions desk. We waited and were called back to the booth so Mom could answer questions and see about paperwork. However, an issue came up with her information in the computer and we ended up having to go sit back in the waiting area for probably ~35 more minutes or so. Finally, they get her arm band and we get ready to go back to another area so the nurse got Mom into a chair to wheel her down. Mom was freezing so she stopped and got some blankets that were heated up for her. Mom is only 73 pounds and freezes all the time anyway. =( We get set in the prep room, or whatever it’s called, and some person comes in to tell us who her nurse would be in this area and they were gonna have to try to get a lab done before they could prepare to get the biopsy going. Well, blood taking is always a problem with Mom. I help her get into her gown and wait for them to come poke her 100 times. Two nurses try… nope. The problem is that they finally get a little vein and it slips every single time. It just hurts my heart to see her, so tiny, so bruised from all the poking, and all the pain I know she is in and has been through. She’s such a strong woman. I feel a little antsy when I see her feet twitch each time they try to stick her. They say they’ll have to call in the IV team to come help. We wait and wait and wait. A different nurse comes in and says- nah we can’t wait for IV team so let me try. I can’t remember which nurse but someone FINALLY grabs a tiny vein but It could slip any minute. The IV team person had just arrived after they finally got the tiny one, and the IV team person was like, “Oh yes, I know her and yeah, she has nothing” (meaning no veins…). Haha not good when the IV expert says that. They tell Mom not to move that arm at ALL. I feel for her. She’s freezing, had not eaten anything since the previous evening, was in a lot of pain because she has bad arthritis and couldn’t take her usual for pain the previous night, and being poked on so many more times AGAIN. Meanwhile, it’s getting closer to lunch and my blood sugar is beginning to drop. I was trying to wait till they got Mom situated and then eat my lunch but it didn’t look like she was going anywhere soon. I usually eat lunch around 12-12:30PM and we were waiting, waiting. Soon, It was after 1PM and I told Mom I had to go ahead and eat.. even tho I hated to eat in front of her because she was starving but I went ahead and ate plus took my vitamins and felt a bit better.

They had drawn *just enough* blood to get the one lab they needed so were waiting for those results and then they were gonna take her elsewhere for the lung biopsy. Eventually someone came in and said that there’s a 20% risk of lung collapsing during the biopsy. However, a little later a Doc came in to explain their concern with everything. Doc said they felt uneasy about doing this right now because of this vein they *barely* caught and that is about to slip. Also, because Mom’s lungs were very unhealthy that chance of lung collapse is VERY high. If that were to happen then she would need to stay overnight and It could be worse to where she would need to be on the ventilator. Doc said if they needed to give her more meds after the biopsy if something went wrong then that pitiful IV would not be suitable. Everything just did not add up, so they talked to Mom about it- and bless her I noticed that her eyes teared up a little and lip quivered when they were talking about this whole circumstance. Everyone came to the conclusion, including Mom, that nobody felt good about going forward with this right now but to get it addressed soon. First we need to let her veins heal and talk to her other Doc. Brad was taking off work early to be there in time to get Katie off the bus but after Mom got back into her clothes and wheeled down to the front to wait for Mom’s friend to pick us up- I made it back at the same time as Brad was walking over to the bus stop in front of our apartments lol. Ugh, it was a draining morning. I’m glad they didn’t go through with it right now for Mom too. I just hate to see her in pain and going through so much but apparently her whole life has been medical madness.

Of course with Mom being in pain and not feeling well then that doesn’t keep her in the greatest mood- which I don’t think I would be either but then everyone else around me is grumpy and negative too. It’s so hard but I’m just gonna keep being positive and trying to inspire others to be too. Life has pain and circumstances that might make us disappointed/angry/etc etc etc but I choose to find the light in everything because I want to try to enjoy my life. <3 Just send some good vibes to my Mom please. =)