Good vibes needed

We were at the Ruston, LA tournament this last weekend and had planned to stay over and drive back on Sunday after doing some geocaching in the area.

I got a phone call at 0100 Sunday morning saying my mother had suffered a stroke and they were sending her to the ER. We saddled up and drove back in the middle of the night, got into the hospital at about 0700. And yes, she had stroked. They admitted her about 1000 and put her on the neuro wing.

Today the neurologist, the physical therapist and the speech therapist all saw her. We have to consider a feeding tube if her swallowing has not improved within 24 hours. And I doubt she’s going to recover enough to use her walker again, so if she pulls through this, it’s probably going to be nursing home time.

The old gal is 95 and I’ve always said that she would probably bury me. I hate to say this, but she’s (sometimes not so) subtly been prepping us over the last couple of years for her kicking the bucket (her term, not mine). Doesn’t make it any easier when the bad stuff starts happening.

I tell all my junior students in my Taekwondo school that MOM OUTRANKS EVERYBODY, so in my school, she’s an honorary 6th Degree and a member of the ATA family. I even had her come be a guest judge at a testing the year she turned 90. She was still doing Tai Chi back then and she amazed everyone when she started asking technical questions about why their hands needed to be up on kicks, etc.

I’m not the most religious person in the world, but I do believe in good vibes. So if you guys could take a second or two and send them to Mom, it would be appreciated.

Positive thoughts going out for you and your mom. It is so hard to lose a mother…

I am sorry to hear about this. Recovering from a stroke is often a slow and frustrating process (my dad had a pretty serious stroke years ago - at first the docs thought he’d never walk again but he did manage to do it after several months), but it sounds like your mother is the sort of person who has the determination to do everything possible to bounce back. All my best to you and your mom.

All my best wishes to your mom and the whole family.

I lost my dad 4 years ago, and I’m not ready to think about losing my mom. I can’t even imagine what you’re going through, but I do hope things go well.

Geez, Clothahump, your mother really does wear combat boots. What a supremely cool lady. Tai Chi at 90… just wow.

Well wishes and loads of admiration headed her way.