The doctor threw a curveball at us on Sunday and rather than a full discharge, offered mom an option of a day pass, with mom needing to return at 10pm. This was an option we hadn’t considered but it was a creative way of addressing mom’s hesitation given a very painful morning.

Our family does an annual one week vacation each year by renting out a vacation home. Our house rental week out by Hope this year was to begin on Sunday. Since mom got a day pass to get out of the hospital for the day, we all drove out to Hope (a wonderful change of scenery!). Most of the family stayed at the vacation house while some of us returned back in the evening to our now familiar accommodations! It felt like the right kind of compromise and we got the go ahead for mom’s discharge from the hospital this afternoon. It doesn’t mean that mom is pain free, but the pain seems to be managed at a level that they felt it was safe to let her go home. As nice it is to leave the hospital, it happened with some mixed feelings, as there is a certain level of safety in knowing that you have a nurse just a button push away.

It’s ironic, but whether you are at the hospital or not, even the medical experts don’t have a magic wand or formula to solve mom’s pain and other symptoms. The cause and effect relationship between different medications, foods or other pre-existing conditions, often feels like a game of chance, or trial and error, since each patient is unique and doesn’t necessarily respond in the same way. It’s up to us to observe closely, and try and communicate the patterns we notice. The doctors and nurses sometimes respond with possible alterations to prescriptions or by consulting with colleagues and sometimes just with “hmmms” since they themselves are observing and looking for patterns. We obviously wish there was a perfect formula, or that someone would give us clear directions of exactly what to do or not to do – but, we haven’t found that yet.  The hardest part is to watch the trial and errors on mom – she says her pain makes labour pains pale in comparison. Nevertheless, we remain grateful for the wonderful and genuine care she has received during her stay.

Tonight, mom gets to sleep in her own bed and we hope and pray it’s a peaceful sleep tonight, with a better day ahead tomorrow. The hope is for all of us to reunite at the vacation rental on Tuesday afternoon. To be surrounded by beautiful nature and family is a true gift for each of us!