A Short Trip to Virginia

My daughter and I left for Virginia on 17 March 2013, and we planned to return to Kentucky on the 20th. I didn't write much about that trip...details are sparse, but I did ask my friends for funny memes to lift my spirits on this day in 2013. I was as confused as anyone about the cause of my mother's disease at this point, which was 12 years ago. Now I know more than I care to know about cholangiocarcinoma, more than a decade after my mother's death.

I remember my daughter being tentative about the visit, and when we both saw mom, we were aghast. She wasn't just yellow from bile duct jaundice, she was orange. When I asked the doctor much later why they couldn't see that transition, he said it was because it was just that--a transition. With slow changes,  the closer you are to someone, the more difficult it is to see the change.

I know I'll go through my mother's hospital records at some point. I have three bags filled with after-visit summaries and hospice notes. I'm sure, too, that as I go through my Facebook memories this year, I'll learn more details about what happened. during this month in 2013.

Also today in 2013, I made the decision to return to Kentucky. My caughter and I both had jobs to return to, and there was nothing we could do for the time being in Virginia. I know the weather at this time of year in 2013 was marvelous. Lots of blue skies and green grass. Witness the photo I took of my parents' back yard on the 19th...the weather was to continue to be this charming through the week.

Now I'm looking at some of this days activities in 2014, and--not to give the plot away--mom was still alive, and it appears my father was dealing with his bladder cancer. Neither one of them could drive, I remember. Dad wasn't allowed behind the wheel for four weeks minimum. That was the first and only month I felt really needed. 

More about this situation later.