Mom update

(This is not my mother.)
(This is not my mother.)

I’m happy to report that, when I left the hospital last night, my mother was doing extremely, indeed surprisingly, well. Nevertheless, when it comes to nonagenarians and brain surgery, bad things can happen during the recovery phase. I’m therefore cautious in my optimism.

I have to admit that it was unnerving when the surgeon told me she had one to five hours to live. Fortunately, approving her for brain surgery was a no brainer (pardon the pun), since Mom wants to live.

The ICU nurse asked Mom a question she asks all her patients over 90, which what the patient believes is the secret to such a long life. Mom answered “I want to live.”

The nurse, thinking Mom had misheard, started to repeat her question. I politely stopped her.

“What Mom was saying is that the secret to her long life is that she WANTS to live.”

“Ah,” said the nurse. “I get it. Will power.”