The original plans for the weekend included me and my wife, taking off on Friday after work and heading to Monroe NC to see Scott Campbell and some other musicians and enjoy some down time together on a romantic weekend. Scotty has played on some of my stuff and helped me on some other projects as well..... so when I heard he was coming to NC from Vermont, of course I made plans to go and see him, hang out, pick a bit, and just have fun with his band of merry folks and my wife.... at a winery.... should have been an easy thing to do....
 
Then, about 2 pm on Friday afternoon, I got a phone call that my mom had fallen 2x and was being admitted to the hospital. My mom is 96 years old so falling was not a good thing. We canceled the Monroe trip to see Scotty. The long and short of this is that my mom is likely in her final days, not due to the falls, since they were a symptom of the other issues, and that she is failing rapidly. Speaking with my family and the doctors, the plans are to keep her comfortable, and to send her home with hos-pice care to pass peacefully in a home environment as she has often stated was her desire. She is lucent, can hold a conversation with you on a variety of topics, and knows exactly what is happening. We had a good conversation several weeks ago and spoke again  at the hospital. We have known this day was coming and it has finally arrived. The family will of course  miss her greatly however, she told us yesterday from the hospital bed that she did not want us to be sad for her. We were to be happy for her.  That was her words to us.....  Celebrate her life.....Keep loving each other as family and do the right things. That's what she wanted. That's what she told us.
 
So, sometime later in the afternoon, we got another phone call.... it turns out that my mother in law fell after blacking out.  So she's in the hospital too..... and she's 78 years old. No one knows what happened. The tests are all in the normal ranges. She got dizzy last night in the hospital, and told us this had been happening for a few weeks previous but didn't want to "bother us" with it. So, after visiting with my mom, and getting everyone back home, we rushed home last night to see what was happening here.
 
 
when it rains it pours it seems.
 
We would covet your prays for healing and comfort.

Wow!  That's a lot to happen all at once.  You have my prayers and best wishes for your mom and your mother-in-law.  Don't forget to take care of yourselves while you're having so many other concerns.  

That's tough news, Herb. My sympathies to you and your family.

Best Wishes for everyone.
 

I will pray for strength and peace, for you and your family in this trying time, Herb.  Hang in there Brother.

My thoughts are with you and your entire extended families Herb.

My thoughts are with you, Herb.

So sorry to hear the sad news Herb.  Prays going out to you and your family.  It is just like life that one day we are good and happy and the next not so.  I am trying to appreciate all the days and not wishing to take anything for granted.  Thanks for sharing and God bless.
 
Jimmy
 

Sorry to hear about it Herb, stay strong!

Thanks every one. we certainly appreciate the thoughts and prayers.
 
 
Update as of Monday:
 
Kim's mom came home yesterday after spending a night in the hospital. They could find no reason for her to blackout. So they placed a heart monitor and vital stats monitor on her for the next 30 days to see if there's anything random going on.
 
My mom is scheduled to be transported home to my sister's house today. 2-11-14 where she will likely spend her remaining few days with in home care and hos-pice taking care of her. It's just a matter of time. No one has placed a time span on it.... could be a day or two or several weeks. My mom is strong willed and has surprised us in the past.
 
When she was 80 years old, she was telling every one that she was "almost" 70..... she went in to the doctor because she didn't feel well and couldn't shake the "bug"...  the doc examined her and put her in the hospital for a test or two. When they tested her, they realized she was in congestive heart failure and needed a bypass operation immediately. In surgery, she coded 3 times, and was jump-started successfully all 3 times. A triple bypass later and she was in the intensive care unit. She had not given any next of kin info and actually refused to tell them anything.... because as she later told me, she didn't want us to worry.
 
Her doctor pulled her boyfriend aside and told him that she was not out of the woods and might die and that if he knew how to contact her children, he should do so as quickly as possible.  I got the call from Tony at 9pm.
When I showed up at the hospital, the doc started scolding me.....because my mom had lied to them about her age and they were treating her with meds based on 70 years of age not 80 like she truly was. I explained that no one in the family actually knew her actual age since she would never tell us. Ancestry.com later solved that mystery..... kind of since I found 2 different dates in there as well..... so it's still a semi-mystery.
 
She recovered well, and was released from the intensive care unit on her 80th birthday. She went home a few days later. At home, she decided that she didn't like taking the meds the doctors had her on since they made her feel "woosey" and so she stopped taking them. In two weeks after being home..... she drove herself to the doctors office for the one and only followup visit she had. They asked if she was responding well to the meds, and she told them she had flushed them all down the toilet and she wasn't planning to take them ever again. She had also told the home health nurse who was coming every other day to check up on her that she didn't need to come any more because my mom told her she was perfectly capable of taking care of herself thank you.....!!!!
 
That's my mom......