Sunday, February 20, 2011

Sandwich Time

Here I thought I was too young to be part of the Sandwich Generation. After all, Little Brother is only turning 9 next month.

Apparently I thought wrong.

My mother-in-law stays with us just about every other weekend. That means two three-hour round trips per weekend for my husband to go get her and bring her home. So in a way we've been sandwiching for the past year and a half.

Last night while we sat at the Boy Scout Spaghetti Dinner, my mother-in-law suddenly didn't feel well. After a few minutes, my husband sent me into the restroom to make sure she was OK. My neighbor went with me and we asked my mother-in-law about her symptoms.

We were both fairly concerned when she mentioned chest pain, trouble breathing, pain between the shoulder blades, dizziness and a cold sweat. Since we were all done with our dinners anyway (we were just hanging around talking with friends and other Scout families by this point) we all went home and I convinced TheDad that a trip to the ER would be a good idea. They were seen pretty quickly and nitroglycerin relieved her angina symptoms. She declined the offer of an overnight stay "for observation" and came back here with us.

Now she'll be here until tomorrow night, when my husband will hand her off to his brother. We don't want her staying alone in her house until she sees her regular doctor on Tuesday. She's not happy, which is going to feed her anxiety, but we just don't think that leaving her alone is a good idea, especially when we found out that she has had other health issues for several months and not told anyone (including her doctor) about them.

So it looks like TheDad will have plenty on his plate in the days and weeks to come. It will be my job to keep things going around here so that he's free to handle what he has to.

Prayers would be appreciated.

6 comments:

Brother Charles said...

Prayers for your mother-in-law and the whole family. Peace.

Michelle said...

My prayers for you all -- though I prefer "the rubber band generation" - since I felt stretched in every direction :)

for narnia said...

my prayers are with your mother-in-law, you and your family. PAX!
~tara t~

Ellen said...

Praying for MIL, the Dad and all of you.

Rosemary said...

God bless you and your family with wisdom, peace, and fortitude. Continued prayers.

Jeanne said...

My husband and I have been taking care of his parents since the day we were married. His elderly dad lives with us. It is difficult, but not impossible, and nobody these days is too young to be part of the sandwich generation....prayers for your mom in law!