Saturday, February 6, 2016

Mom's Story

My mother told me a funny story today. She has turned into quite a comedian since her stroke.
She is wanting to eat and drink, but they won't let her until she passes the swallow test. I'm not supposed to get the thickener until she is approved by the swallow therapist. The struggle is real. We can't let her aspirate. This is what she thinks of all the time. Her throat is so dry. She is on a feeding tube, but she misses regular food.
So today she asked if she could tell me a story she'd heard "Somewhere."
I said yes. So Mom began to talk:
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Once upon a time there was a house in Missouri in the country. One day some people knocked on the door and walked in. They were so surprised to find an old, old lady asleep in a hospital bed right in the middle of the front room. "What happened to you?" They asked.
The old, old lady said, "Well, I had a stroke." Then she started to cough. And she coughed and she coughed and she coughed.
Everybody said, "Are you all right?"
"Yes. I just need a drink of water."
Her daughter said, "I'm sorry. You can't have water until we get some thickener."
Then the old lady kept on coughing, and she coughed and coughed.
"Are you all right?" The people asked.
"Yes. I just need a little sip of Diet Coke, and  I'll be fine."
Her daughter said, "I'm sorry. You can't have any Diet Coke until we get some thickener."
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Mom looked at me and asked if I wanted to hear the rest, and I did.
She continued:
Well, it has two endings. One is this:
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The old old lady kept coughing, and nobody would give her water, and nobody would give her Diet Coke, so her head just flew of her body and hit the wall. The end.
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I asked about ending number two.
Mom finished :
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One of the women who visited took over. She was so nice. She said, "I don't give a darn what the committee said about the thickener." So she gave the old woman a sip of Diet Coke, and she was fine. The coughing stopped. The end.
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I added Mom where she heard that story....
Mama looked at me so funny and said, "Well, Silly, I just made it up." She paused a minute and added.  "You are in that story."

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Indeed.

5 comments:

Susie said...

I feel sad for your mom...but she made up a funny story...bless her heart. I say a prayer for her right now. I wish you all the best xoxo,Susie

Miss Merry said...

You are bringing back things I had forgotten with my dad. In the hospital after his stroke all he could talk about was a sip of ginger ale. After finally passing the swallow test, we discovered the hospital did not stock ginger ale. I was permitted to bring some from home. They mixed it with the thickener and then all I heard about was the crappy ginger ale that the hospital served. I do think that in addition to the consistency issue, his stroke also affected his taste buds and things really did taste different than he expected. However, there was no explaining or reasoning with him. Stay Strong girlfriend!

Heaven's Walk said...

Oh Gayla....how your mom's adorable story brought back memories of my own mother going through the same thing. It's definitely a trying and difficult road to travel, but what a blessing that your darling momma is keeping her sense of humor through it all. :) Bless you both as you continue on this journey, sweetie. My prayers continue to surround you!!

xoxo laurie

wendy said...

What a funny story! I'll continue to keep all of you in my prayers.

CIELO said...

Oh Gayla... such a cute... and funny story! I can almost see the two of you engrossed in your story... and oh, I have to tell you, I'm so with that "one women" who visited and took over! I too would do exactly the same... give her the coke and let her be happy for goodness sake! You owe her that one! ;) Please tell mom I'll make some pretty stories for her tonight and send them over to her via Angels... hugs to you, darling...

Cielo