Not as great moment: on Thanksgiving day, the first words out of my mom’s mouth, as I grabbed her bag at LAX, were, “Matthew, something happened.”
As she was about to board her flight in New York, the vision in my mom’s left eye went black, and then she saw strands of red. When she landed here, I took her directly to UCLA Medical Center’s emergency room. An ophthalmologist found a possible tear in her retina. She went into surgery early the next morning.
After ten hours in the hospital on Friday, the prognosis was slightly better: it turned out it wasn’t a torn retina but a macroaneurysm, and the surgeons cleaned up some of the blood in her eye. Then, mom had to really take it easy. Here’s a short list of things she’s forbidden from doing: looking at her phone, looking at a laptop, reading, riding in a car. Come out to the coast – we’ll get together, have a few laughs.
It made for a shitty visit for her, but we kept her company as best we could. This morning, she finds out whether she’s allowed to fly home tonight, or has to wait a few more days. I have a good feeling she’ll be able to leave.
I was overwhelmed by all the responses I received after posting about her on Friday. I have so many good people in my life. Thanks so much, guys.
