Updates and Chick-Fil-A

Thanks for all of your thoughts and prayers for our family. My stepmom is doing so much better! She's currently in a rehab hospital, where she'll stay for another 6 weeks. She does therapy 3-4 times a day there, and she's getting better every day. The doctors said that they expect she'll be able to go back to her job in a couple of months. Fortunately, she's with a company that's working with her and holding her job until she is able to return. We're so thankful that the stroke was minor, and counting our blessings every day!
Having said that, can I brain dump?

I'm so tired of hearing about Chick-Fil-A. Seriously. Oh my goodness, they have an opinion! Heaven forbid someone have an opinion that isn't the same as yours! (I hope you can sense the sarcasm here) People, particularly on my Facebook feed it seems, are SO fired up. I've got one group who is vowing to eat there as often as they can, one group who is vowing to never return, and then there is the group that I fall into of who cares. It's their right to have an opinion, even if it is different than yours. Just like, it's your right to have an opinion even if it's different than theirs. I mean, isn't this grown up adult life? People have different opinions. Let's agree to disagree, be thankful we live in a country where people are able to have different opinions, and quit talking about it (it's ironic that I posted that after I've spent a paragraph talking about it, no?) And me? I'm going to continue to eat there because they have good chicken.

Ditto for politics. Sheesh.

(I am sensing that the politics comment won't end there. Closer to November when I'm ready to pull my hair out, then I'm sure I'll devote a post to my Facebook annoyances during an election year. I'll be especially annoyed since I can't seem to determine if I'm a really liberal conservative or a really conservative liberal...)

We're Not Promised Tomorrow

This weekend my stepmom, Beth, had a stroke. She's 46.

It's one of those unexpected events that shakes you to your core.

Sunday morning around 8 AM, my dad called. I was still laying in the bed. At that time, he didn't know what was going on and just told me that she was being driven to the hospital in an ambulance. He was (obviously) extremely upset, so I jumped up and took a shower. Within the hour, Josh and I were on the road heading that direction. We found out a few minutes into the drive that she was being airlifted to the hospital in Chattanooga, which is a good hour and a half away. We met my little brother so he could ride with us.

When we got to the hospital, we found out that the doctors had confirmed that she had a stroke while she was sleeping. My dad knew something was seriously wrong when she started talking that morning, and then when she couldn't use the left side of her body. She had a blot clot in the right side of her neck that traveled into her brain, and that's what caused the stroke.

We were able to go back and see her, and although she was clearly medicated, she was coherent and talking. I don't really know what I expected, but I definitely breathed a sigh of relief when she talked. I could see that the left side of her mouth didn't work quite the same as it did before, but it wasn't nearly as bad as I anticipated. I've only really ever seen what a stroke looks like on TV.

She was in ICU yesterday, but my dad let me know that late this evening, they moved her to a regular room. The doctors haven't really said too much yet, but it's because they are still in the process of running tests. Hopefully we'll know more the next couple of days. What we do know, is that she will be in the hospital for a few more days, and then she'll be going to a rehab hospital a few blocks from where she is at now.

When I saw my dad yesterday, I hugged him a little longer than usual. I can't imagine anything happening to him. I would be completely lost. Last night, when we were laying in bed, I snuggled up to Josh. I had a hard time going to sleep, just thinking about how much worse it could of been. I'm so thankful she is okay, and that she'll recover quickly from what we've been told.

I imagine the next few weeks will be a challenge, and I certainly appreciate any prayers!