Thankfully...

...my mother seems to be feeling much better this evening. I was able to spend the whole day in the hospital with her (thanks to the amazing, generous kindness of friends and neighbors, the Shanks and the Sacras, who took care of the boys, made sure Josiah got to his choir class this afternoon, and even provided a delicious supper for us tonight); and I watched her progress from horrible pain this morning to feeling pretty good this afternoon! My mom is not a complainer so you know the pain is bad when, on a 10-point pain scale, she gives it an 8 or 9. I'm so relieved that the worst of her pain seems to be over.

We still don't know exactly what the root of the problem was. Various tests seemed to rule out a gallbladder problem as well as pancreatitis. For a while, the possibility of diverticulitis was floating around; but nothing conclusive has been mentioned to us. The other possibility is that it was a severe case of a particularly nasty virus that's been passed around; and if I were voting, I'd say that explanation fits the best with what I saw. But what do I know? :)

My dad is staying with her tonight, and we're hopeful that she'll be released from the hospital tomorrow and be able to finish her recovery in her own home sweet home.

THANK YOU to all who were praying for her, and left comments, or sent emails, or called, or helped out in various ways. We are so grateful!!!

Here's a picture of my mother to close out this post. This was taken on Christmas, way back in 2005; and the baby in her lap is our adorable David.