Dysfunction at its finest

I got a call yesterday morning, around ten, from my sister in California.  We were discussing Thanksgiving and she casually mentioned oh by the way, mom is on her way to the hospital.  She didn't know why yet, just that our youngest sister had called her and told her she was on the way there. 

Around noon, she called me back.  The doctors think that mom had a mini stroke (again).  I said okay, keep me posted and then I bitched for a few minutes that she was the only one who had called me.  Not one of those selfish fucks in Utah could be bothered to call me.  Not my youngest sister, the crack whore, my brother or my mother's husband.  Asshat chickenfuckers all of them.  She then tells me that she isn't talking to anyone but her dad/my mother's husband because the crack whore pissed her off, but dad won't talk to the crack whore because she pissed off the youngest sister, and youngest sister has her baby at the hospital so the doctors won't let her in the room, and bla fucking bla bla bla.  

It's exhausting

Around four, my sister in California called again. This time, she sounded horrible and was obviously crying hard.  When I first said hello, and heard her voice, I thought my mom was dead.  My stomach dropped to my knees and I almost threw up.  I took a deep breath and braced myself for the worst.

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They were taking her via ambulance to the main hospital in Salt Lake City (she lives in a Podunk town about 45 miles away).  The CT scan in her town was inconclusive and they needed more tests.  At one point they were going to transport her via Life Flight (helicopter) but they nixed that and decided on the ambulance.  I calmed my sister down and told her that if it was something life threatening, they would be using the helicopter.  My sister (they are all rather jumpy and irrational at times) was trying to book a flight to Utah for last night.  Having been through this before, I told her to try and calm down until we knew something more.  We didn't know if it was a mini stroke, a full on stroke, a bleed, or what.  I told her to call me when she knew anything. 

By now, I was apprehensive and nervous and all of the bad thoughts that can run through a person's mind were on full sprint in my head.  While I don't have the best relationship with my mother, and I don't really care if I never see her again, I also don't wish her dead.  I just wish to be invisible to all of my family members except my sister in CA and my brother who lives with me.  The others can disappear off the face of the earth and take their drama with them.  Really. 

I was driving home, thinking all of the thoughts that we all think when someone we know has a brush with potential death, like, how I need to tweak my will and custody agreement, I need to up my life insurance, I wonder who will pay for her funeral if this really is her time, the fact that if she dies, then I will have lost the two most profound women in my life within a span of 13 months.  Ya know, THOSE kind of things. 

Anyway, my phone rings and my heart skips a beat, and I see that it is my step dad. 

I take a deep breath and brace, yet again, for the worst.  He tells me that he is just barely on his way to the hospital after getting back into town, they still don't know anything, but they think it was the mini stroke and once she gets to the hospital she will be in the ER until they finish the tests and then they are keeping her overnight.  I told him to call me, no matter what time, on either the home or my cell phone and let me know as soon as she is in a room and let me know what they know so far.  He agreed.  I then called my sister in California to tell her. 

I waited up until 11:30 last night and finally went to bed. I woke up at every sound.  I'm tired as hell.  I called this morning before work and left a voice mail to call and let me know what was going on.  I called my sister on the way to work and told her the same thing. 

I've called all of their cell phones and no one answers. 

It is 3:55 p.m. right now, my sister just called me.  They released my mom at 2:30 a.m. THIS MORNING and said she had a severe migraine and sometimes a bad one can mimic stroke symptoms and sent her home.

Nice of them to let me know.