Maternal Mortality

My emotions are very near the surface because of contemplating the mortality of my mother. It doesn't help that I just saw a Mormon video - "you're never alone" and now they are on the surface. My mother just underwent surgery to repair a massive hiatal hernia in which her stomach and part of her colon had pushed into her chest cavity. A wonderful surgeon, Dr. Lipham, was found for her, who has done repairs with very little reoccurence. All went well with her surgery and anesthesia and she is now in recovery. She was feeling calm and not anxious, until her anesthesiologist decided she needed to contemplate all the risks associated with her condition. She told my mother that her heart condition would never be better so she couldn't do anything to make it better before this surgery. She said that she needed to be aware that something could go wrong but that it was good that if so, it would happen in the hospital where they could do their best for her. Mother looked at me with her face all screwed up in a questioning look. Then she started feeling bad. A little after that, Dr. Benjamin Chen, who works with Dr. Lipham, came by with his happy cheerful face to get her all upbeat again. Then Dr. Lipham came over and looked very eager to get going. Thank goodness they came by to counterract that anesthesiologist's downer attitude.



She is only about 3 months into her widowhood which of course has been difficult for her to go through. This ordeal has been a distraction and she has mentioned that this would have been very difficult for Jay to go through with/for her. He would have been beside himself with worry and I think the stress might have been hard for him to go through.



Well, all's well for now. Once she gets through recovery, she will go to ICU, where she will spend the night because of her age and heart condition. Prayers have been so helpful for her. She said she really was feeling the benefits of them.