Today was…insane. Micah woke up a little before 9. I probably should have gone in to get him up earlier, but I was so comfortable lounging in bed. Maya woke up right at nine as Megan was arriving, and I nursed her while Elliot took a shower and Megan fed Micah breakfast and dressed him. I quickly showered and dressed, and Elliot and I bolted out the door at 9:25 and raced over to Beth El for Micah’s first 1/2 day at preschool.
Preschool went well for Micah…except he was out of sorts. He is definitely teething again (molars this time), and he is missing me, but his behavior was a bit out of line. He screamed a few times at one of the other kids when she got too close to him (and he shoved her and hit her). We tried to carefully monitor him and intervene before he started to fight with the other kids, but he was a handful. He tried to do a little sharing with another girl (my friend’s daughter, Samantha), but he screamed at her a few times and resisted sharing. He threw a few other temper tantrums when he didn’t want to sit in circle time, and he resisted snack time (until he realized there was a cup of water he could dump all over himself). I’m definitely concerned about his behavior, and hope that we can work on it over the next few weeks.
After class ended, we briefly stopped by the preschool breakfast. Micah was having a great time running and playing with another boy there. When it was time to go, Micah kept telling me he did not want to leave, so I finally said “I’m leaving” and started to walk to the door. Micah FLIPPED out – he screamed, started crying, chased after me, and yelled something that sounded like “Mommy, no go!” I realized that I’ve been leaving him so often lately that even the threat of leaving at the synagogue was extremely upsetting to him. My poor little boy.
Elliot and I brought Micah home, and Micah and Megan headed out for a few hours. I hired Megan through her best friend, Christin (our other babysitter), and Christin’s mother Laura babysit’s my friend’s children on Thursdays. Megan decided to bring Micah over to Laura’s house to play with Merrick and Addie for a few hours. Apparently, Micah had a great time today chasing after Merrick…he seems to be well behaved when playing with older children, but not so much with children his own age.
After Micah and Megan left, Elliot, Maya and I left for Hopkins. About 5 minutes into our trip, Elliot’s cell phone rang, and it was our niece, Melissa, telling us about reports that there was a gunman at Hopkins who shot a doctor. We were naturally worried about my mom, but we decided to continue on our drive while we searched for more information. We called and alerted my father, and we called my brother to check into some information online. Elliot also got on the phone and called his Red Cross contacts. From what we could tell, the shooter was in the building adjacent to my mom’s, on the 8th floor. We heard he was contained (barricaded into a room), and we were hopeful that we would be able to get into the hospital to see my mother. I spent most of the trip to Hopkins fielding phone calls about the situation there, trying to get information, and answering text messages.
When we arrived at Hopkins, streets around the hospital were closed, the hospital was on lockdown, and parking was a nightmare since most of the lots were closed. We finally found some street parking, and we set about getting some information. In the process, Elliot was interviewed by WBAL radio, giving the “human” side of the story. We ran into my mother’s rehab doctor and talked to him. He told us that the Rehab wing was secure but not evacuated, and he helped us reach the front desk. After speaking to my mother’s nurse, I was able to call her room directly and speak to her. I let her know that we were all okay, that we were at the hospital, but unable to get inside to see her.
My mom informed me that she was miserable and in pain again, which made it even worse that we were stuck outside. They had to perform another disimpaction, and my mother told me it was excruciatingly painful. After I got off the phone with her, I called my father again, and learned he was only a few minutes away. We arranged to meet near one of the blockades.
About 20 minutes later, we found my father. He introduced Elliot to a WBAL News Channel 11 reporter, and Elliot was interviewed on air! His 15 minutes of fame in the middle of all this mess. Actually, he was on a second time, breaking the news (from a police twitter) that the gunman shot himself and his mother. For those of you on Facebook, we have the first video interview posted there. We spent the next few hours stuck outside, with varying reports about what was going on inside. Here is what we discerned over the course of the day: a man shot a doctor after arguing with him. Apparently, the doctor operated on his mother, and she was paralyzed as a result of the surgery. He was loose in the hospital, and ended up barricading himself on the 8th floor (we think in his mother’s room). Ultimately, he shot his mother and shot himself. On a side note, how awful is that story? I just don’t understand some people…if you are angry with a doctor, then go after their medical license. Shooting the doctor did not help his mother in any way, and it certainly isn’t going to teach that doctor a lesson or hurt his career, if, in fact, he did something wrong. And killing his mother? She went from paralyzed to dead because of him! Even if she lived, once he shot the doctor, he made it impossible for him to be there for his mother. For the life of me, I cannot figure out how ending their lives in any way helped. The story is just tragic, and I wish there wasn’t so much evil in the world.
Within ten minutes, they started to ease up on the barricades, and we were able to get around and inside the hospital. It was nearly 3:00 when we finally made it up to my mom’s room. She immediately asked me to read the blog and your messages – I think that might be her favorite part of the day. Zena – she groans at your jokes of the day…but she absolutely pays attention to every word I read! By the way, I’ve apparently been confused about some of the gifts that have been sent to the hospital. The beautiful plant I keep mentioning is from “the kids” – Heather & Jon, Seth, Jack & Jenny, Erik & Annie, and Matt & Marisa – a group of my mom’s friends’ children. I know that several of you read this blog – and I just wanted to say how much she loves that plant. So, apparently I’m the one who is confused!
We found my mother extremely miserable and in pain. It has been a really rough week for her. We helped her eat lunch, and then PT showed up again. They wanted to work with us on transfers again. We did one transfer from the bed to the wheelchair, and it went well, but my mother was in too much pain. We transferred her back to bed, and then she asked to be transferred to the commode. When we finally got her back in bed, she was exhausted and did not want to do any more transfers or therapy.
At that point, Elliot had to leave to get home in time for the babysitter, and I decided to stay longer to be with my mother. My father and I stayed with my mom while she napped and then through dinner. We did learn that she will be starting radiation and chemo in the morning. And so it begins. My mom became very quiet after they shared this news with us…I think she is scared. She is worried about the side effects, and worried that she will be even more miserable than she is now. Actually, when we were talking about it, my father joked that she shouldn’t worry, she wouldn’t be forgetting that she was married to him. I joked back that there was no chemo or radiation in the world strong enough to eradicate some memories! I hope that radiation and chemo go well for her, but I am worried for her, too.
My father and I left around 7:30, and we drove back together. We talked on the way home…about my mother and the future. It was sad, but it was a good conversation. Once we returned to Bethesda, we stopped off at a Verizon store to pick out a new phone for my mother. I’m hoping that it will make things easier for mom, and I will bring it up to her in the morning. My dad came back to our house and joined us for a pizza dinner, once again, compliments of my cousin, Francine. Micah was still awake when we got home, and he was just being cute and playful. My father left after dinner, and we managed to put both of the kids to bed relatively early. I plan to play with my mom’s phone a bit more tonight to learn the features and make sure I can explain to my mom how to use it.
My father called a little while ago – apparently, my mother is having a very rough night. I sure hope she feels better soon – she needs her rest tonight. Wish us luck tomorrow! I hope my mom can handle the radiation and chemo without incident, because I’m just not certain she can take much more. And is it too much to ask for a day without any crazy gunman incidents, too? I don’t want anything keeping me away from Mom tomorrow when she needs us.
So…another emotionally draining day, filled with drama, hours of being trapped outside the hospital and unable to get to my mom, and tons of tension and worry. We are all a little nervous about tomorrow, too, but I hope we can get through it without any problems.