Moment With Mel: Mom Time Is Good For You
My mom lives in the mountains of North Carolina and is coming to Charlotte today. I’m excited to see her even though we just spent three months together. It’s funny how bad situations can produce great outcomes.
On November 13, 2020, my mom came to stay with me for a bit. I had spinal fusion surgery on November 16, and my mom planned to stay with me for a few weeks while I recovered. Unfortunately, a few weeks turned into three months as I contracted a staph infection after my first surgery. The staph infection lead to a second surgery and a five day hospital stay. My mom put her life on hold to take care of me.
After getting home from the hospital after the second surgery that happened because of the staph infection, my mom had to administer meds to be three times a day for six weeks via a picc line in my arm. It’s antibiotic infusion therapy and I was scared. I am a control freak and I had to put my life into my mom’s hands. Now, obviously my mom wouldn’t hurt me, but she’s not a nurse. Someone putting meds into you via your veins is freakin’ scary! I trust my mom but it did make me nervous that a “non-medical” person would be giving me meds intravenously.
Luckily, all went well! My mom did an amazing job. And despite the fact that I almost died from the staph infection, my mom and I became closer. I am truly lucky my mom put her life on hold for me. Although the circumstances weren’t great, but it was good for us! Our relationship benefited from my surgery/illness.
We’ve always had a close relationship, but we became closer over the three months my mom took care of me. She’s a hard core lady and I cannot thank her enough for all she did for me. Being sick and unable to do lots of things made me look for the positives in every situation. Depression can overtake your life when trauma and illness happen. It’s easy to feel sorry for yourself and to become depressed. I tried very hard not to let that happen.
My recovery continues, and I’m tired a lot but that may be due to the oral antibiotics I take three times a day. I have to do that for at least a year but I’m glad I’m back at work! Becoming closer with my mom has been the bright spot in this whole thing! My sick time gave us time to giggle and have some laughs together. I won’t forget that. Although it’s cliche, there is always a silver lining. You just have to really look for it.
