Happy Holidays/Update on my mother-in-law

[blpurdom]

--- In HPFGU-OTChatter at y..., Sheryll Townsend <s_ings at y...> wrote:
> Wishing everyone a Happy holiday and many joys in the
> New Year. These lists have a been a wonderful place to
> be since I've joined. May they continue to be a great
> place for us all to come together.

We're getting ready to have a large Italian Christmas Eve dinner 
soon (NOT the Feast of the Seven Fishes--we do our own thing), but 
it will also be a bit sad because of missing people around the 
table.  It turned out that my mother-in-law had a brain tumor, which 
caused the seizures she had on Thanksgiving, and she had brain 
surgery last Tuesday to remove it.  She's still in the hospital and 
will be for at least another week (or two).  After that, she will 
need to go into a rehabilitation hospital for a while.  She's very 
cheerful most of the time, but doesn't remember having brain 
surgery, why she's in the hospital, her grandchildren's names, and 
sometimes she forgets my name as well.  She is improving, though, 
since a couple of days after the surgery she was just babbling 
incoherently, and now when she can't remember a word or a name, she 
KNOWS she can't remember it and usually resorts to shouting, "Crud!" 
as she attempts to call up the memory.

My father-in-law will be staying with her at the hospital, of 
course, so we're down two people for Christmas Eve dinner.  And 
since my dad died in May and my brother has my mom down at his place 
in New Jersey for Christmas, it just feels like there are so many 
empty places.

You guys have been great, and I know I don't need to ask for good 
thoughts and prayers for my mother-in-law; you just give whether 
someone asks or not.  Everyone have a blessed holiday and don't 
forget to be thankful for all of the loved ones around your tables...

--Barb

> Sheryll, off to trudge through ankle deep slush (and
> no, water-resitant boots are not waterproof :)), but
> still thoroughly enjoying the holiday
> 
> =====
> "We need to be united and strong. We'll have losses and scares, 
> sure. And you'll be there for each other, helping each other 
> through the bad times."
>  blpurdom - Harry Potter and the Psychic Serpent, Chapter 26