Annie – A Mother’s Day Story

by Jenni

“Annie”

This past September my mother was diagnosed with an “Annie”. As I’m sure this makes absolutely no sense to most of you, allow me to fill you in. My mom, being the proactive woman that she is, decided to have her health checked out this past fall. She decided to get blood work done and a full physical. As she described some of her recent symptoms, which included focal headaches in the right temporal area, dizziness, and muscle weakness, the physician decided it would be a good idea to have a MRI done. As it turned out, my mother had what was called a “secured giant aneurysm”.

As luck would have it, I have a BA in nursing and actually my first nursing job was working on a neuro-surgical ICU. After everything I had been exposed to while working on that floor, receiving “that” call from my father was probably the most devastating moment of my life. I will never forget immediately thinking that this was a joke. But unfortunately, this was no joke. My mother had a giant aneurysm!

As most of you reading this can relate, the next few days leading up to her surgery was like living through an out of body experience. Friends, family members, doctors, nurses, and techs all floated in and out of her room. And all the while, she maintained her composure. But the one thing she couldn’t take any longer was having to hear, “GIANT ANEURYSM”. So, she decided to change “its” name to Annie. And that’s the story behind the title.

It’s also important to note that my mother is the Director of a dental hygiene clinic, and her and her students have a phrase they say when she passes out tests. “Let’s do this bitch!” Of course she is the favorite teacher! Anyway, my brother thought it would be fantastic idea to make T-shirts with this phrase for the whole family and also have the phrase imprinted on her night gown.

A day or so before her surgery the doctors were kind enough to grant my mother a pass to go outside the hospital. It was down the street near the lakeside our entire family walked out to meet her and my father with our T-shirts. That experience with her and my entire family by the water was one of the most beautiful moments of my life!

As luck would have it, my mother turned out to be the strongest person I know, and has made a full recovery. Just one day after surgery she was moved from the ICU to a step down recovery floor, and while the next few days were a struggle, she did it with humor and grace and quite honestly was the cutest thing I’d ever seen.

Since leaving the hospital she has undergone physical therapy and various scans to examine her progress, which as been “superb”! Not only has she made a full recovery, but she has recently been granted tenure at her job and been accepted into a Masters program. Did I mention she is the strongest woman I’ve ever known and my inspiration!

Anyway, with Mother’s Day approaching I couldn’t think of anything better than sharing my mother’s success story and celebrating her life.

Mom, I love you so much. Happy Mother’s Day! ~ Jenni