My mom...

One phone call.
Just one.
Changed everything.

It changed plans.
It changed perspectives.
It changed hearts.

Our plans?  Go visit my parents.  Laugh.  Eat really good food.  Laugh some more.  Go on an adventure or two.  Leave adorable kids in their more than capable hands to go take pictures of incredibly awesome people in my former stomping grounds of Louisville, KY.  (Yes, I just said stomping grounds - and I liked it)
What happened?  A phone call.

Wednesday morning it came.  My mom had gone to the doctor.  She'd been low on energy and just couldn't understand why.  And she was told by someone at work that she looked yellow.  So even though she'd gone to the doctor on Friday to be diagnosed with only a sinus infection, she went again ONLY because in classic Peg (my mom's nickname) form, she wanted to make sure she wouldn't get my kids sick.

The nurse practioner noticed a heart murmur.
So she ran more tests.
And that's when they told her to go to the hospital.

I don't remember my conversation with her.  I just remember a gong going off in my head.  And a lot of spinning.  And a lot of questions.

A lot of words were shared over the phone that day... internal bleeding... jaundice... hepatitis... kidney infection... hospital... needs a blood transfusion...  hemoglobin of 4.  (Which I learned that your hemoglobin should be 14.  A 4?  Yeah, not good.  My nurse friend who works in the ER says she's never seen a 4.)

And what happened?  My gracious in-laws rearranged their schedules completely and agreed to take our kids.  My husband got together all the important things and drove my kids to meet up with his parents.  My brothers called and researched and tried to find answers.  My incredible friend came over and laughed and cried and adventured with me as we waited for more answers and debated what to do.  And amidst packing and cleaning and buying Ben&Jerry's "Americone Dream" I secretly begged God to keep my mom here on earth because I didn't begin to know what I'd ever do without her.

We got up at an unreasonable hour of the morning and drove through northern IN, Indy and random parts of southern IN that our GPS didn't know existed.  And we finally made it over the river and through the woods (literally) to KY.  And there she was.  My mom.
And again, I begged God.  Please, please, please let her stay on this earth.  I need her.  And I love her.  And we have more laughs to share and more ridiculous stories to live out.

We laughed.  Because...well, it's what we do.
And we waited for answers.
And we waited for blood because they needed a very specific match that they did not have.

And finally, it all came.

My mom has been diagnosed with hemolytic anemia.  It's an auto-immune disease.  (And thanks to an amazing friend, I actually know something about those)  And it's usually very treatable and manageable.
And my heart could do back flips over this.

Because life is short.
There are no guarantees.
And yes, one phone call can change everything.

But for today, I have my mom.  Even though she's on bed rest.  And her levels haven't improved just yet.  But she's still here and we're still laughing.  And I will treasure EVERY last second.  Because, my mom?  She's a gift.

*  I would like to say thank you to my incredible clients this weekend.  Thank you for being so wonderful, so caring and for being such wonderful people to spend time with after a crazy few days.