My vacation - I survived! She is surviving!

My husband and I decided to take a longish car trip from Kansas City to Southern California to visit and back, but with time on both ends for some touring.  On the way out (to visit friends in the mountains), the plan was to stop to see my brother, and on the way back to do some touring in Arizona, Utah and California. 

The first night, in a tiny town in the middle of Kansas, I had an 'event' that could have been a heart problem, or a medication interaction ... but I passed out in the bathroom, breaking a tooth and waking up on the cold tiles.  We went to the emergency room of a VERY small hospital.  They ended up releasing me, warning me to stop immediately in an emergency room if I experienced further symptoms.  (Have they seen the route between Kingman Kansas and Albuquerque?  I suspect most towns make do with no more than a veterinarian.)  While I could milk that story ad infinitum, I'll move on. 

As I sat in the emergency room receiving care, I found the tables turned. different from my attending to my mother's needs with her sometimes-frequent trips there. I wasn't crazy about being the one with the gown. 

I have spent the vacation, since that Night One, worrying whether I should have turned around to be fully examined.  Each time I've gotten short of breath, I wondered. Each twinge, I wondered.  (I've been fine, and have an appointment immediately upon my return.) 

Mom has been fine, no really, she has been surprisingly positive.  (She bounced right back after my last blog post, and though still fragile, she is as she was before the pain patch made her unstable and sick.)  I have called almost daily (when I had signal), and she has a list of people to call if she gets lonely.  I helped her line up a massage (!  Her first!), and she signed up for another while I'm gone.  She misses me, but her attitude has been great. 

I decided not to tell my mother about my fall and hospital visit until I get back, and to share it as one of many stories from my trip.  I am still a couple of days away from a return, and am figuratively holding my breath.