10/01/2026
An update from behind the camera.
It’s wild to think that I came home from Iceland on Wednesday, August 19, and by that evening, my world turned into one of the most stressful and heartbreaking experiences I’ve ever been through.
My mom fell hard that night, hitting her head and cracking her skull open. She needed two staples and several stitches.
Before she was discharged, I showed the ER doctors and nurses videos of her fall and specifically asked them to thoroughly check her entire spine because her back had slammed into a dresser. I wanted to make sure nothing else had been injured.
I was told she had been evaluated.
She was discharged the next day and sent back to Allied to rebuild her strength.
From that point on, my mom repeatedly complained about severe lower back pain.
Again and again, I heard that it was probably her rheumatoid arthritis and spinal stenosis.
Then, on September 11, my mom suffered a stroke at Allied and was transferred back to Geisinger.
When she arrived, I was also extremely concerned about wounds on her legs. The wounds on her right leg were green, draining and looked absolutely horrific.
Mom was discharged from Geisinger on September 14. That was also the day her cell phone disappeared while she was in the hospital. It has never been found, and I ultimately had to purchase her another phone.
But what is even more concerning is that her white blood cell count was already elevated when she was discharged, indicating that something was wrong. She was sent back to Allied with an infection that had not been adequately addressed.
Three days later, on September 17, we were rushing her back to the hospital. Her white blood cell count was close to 31, and she was septic and critically ill.
She spent time in the ICU before being transferred to the fifth floor.
Then, on September 21, I was told she was ready to be discharged despite her white blood cell count still being elevated.
I refused. I appealed the discharge because I did not believe my mother was ready.
Over the following days, her white count continued to fluctuate and she developed a fever and became delusional.
Then came this past weekend. There was a nurse caring for my mom who was absolutely phenomenal. He listened. He actually listened.
I brought up my mother’s persistent lower back pain again and asked a very simple question:
“After her fall on August 19, did they thoroughly evaluate her entire spine?”
That is when we discovered something that absolutely broke my heart.
They had scanned her head and neck and upper spine. They had NOT scanned her lower spine. So we finally had an X-ray done of her lumbar spine. And there it was.
A compression fracture in her lumbar spine.
A fracture that, based on the timing and the history of her fall, may have been there since August 19.
My mother may have been living with a fractured spine for more than 40 days. More than 40 days of severe lower back pain. More than 40 days of being told that her pain was likely related to her rheumatoid arthritis and spinal stenosis. More than 40 days of rehabilitation, hospitalization, transfers, doctors, nurses and medical records.
And somehow, no one thought to image her lower spine.
I cannot even put into words what that feels like as her daughter.
This is exactly why I advocate for my mother. This is exactly why I ask questions. This is exactly why I read her medical records, look at her labs and keep pushing when something doesn’t make sense.
Because sometimes the person who knows the patient best is the person who has been beside them for years.
I have been caring for my mother since my dad passed away 11 years ago. I know her patterns. I know her baseline. I know when something is wrong.
I am not a doctor, and I don’t pretend to be one. But I am her daughter. And when my mother tells me something hurts, I believe her.
The wounds on her legs are now finally being aggressively treated. The three wounds on her right leg are incredibly severe, with open flesh areas in significant size. Her left leg is minimal compared to the right.
Her white blood cell count has finally come down, but it is still elevated at around 11.9.
And once again, they are preparing to discharge her.
I have watched my mother go through this exhausting cycle of rehabilitation, hospital, rehabilitation, hospital while she gets older and weaker each time.
It is heartbreaking.
And while all of this is happening, I am trying to keep my own life and business functioning.
I am a small business owner. I don’t have paid vacation. I don’t have sick days. There is no paycheck waiting for me when I step away from work.
If I don’t work, there is no income coming in.
So while I am sitting in hospital rooms, making phone calls, reading medical records, tracking lab results, advocating for my mom and communicating with doctors, I am also worrying about my clients, my business, my bills and how I am going to keep everything moving.
It has been incredibly overwhelming.
I love my mother more than anything, and I will always be there for her. But I am human too. I am exhausted. I am emotionally drained. I am scared.
And I am trying to hold everything together while watching someone I love go through one medical crisis after another.
Tomorrow, my mom turns 79.
And honestly, she deserves so much more. She deserves compassion. She deserves dignity. She deserves to be listened to. She deserves thorough care.
And our elderly deserve better than being passed back and forth between facilities until someone finally stops, listens and looks at the whole picture.
I will continue to advocate for my mother. I will continue to ask questions. I will continue to stand beside her. And I will continue to fight for the care she deserves.
Happy 79th birthday, Mom.
I love you more than words could ever say!
