effects of surgical procedures

my mother had pelvic prolapse surgery and a hysterectomy back in november. though the surgery went better than anyone hoped to expect, it still took a certain toll on my mom, who is quite active and youthful, especially for someone who is almost seventy years old. by christmas she was finally back semi-up on her feet again, busy in the kitchen, where she and my dad began to argue. why? well, while mom was convalescing, dad had grown accustomed to cooking and he had sort of made the kitchen his own, and the style he developed wasn't at all how my mom was used to doing things. so when she came back into the kitchen, there was a little chemical reaction. when i realized all this it made me smile.
so anyway, last week i found out not only that some of the pelvic prolapse procedures had "slipped" since the last surgery, but also that the doctors had found cancerous cells in mom's uterine tissue. so she went back into surgery this week-- in fact, today-- to have her bladder suspended in mesh and to have her ovaries removed.
apparently the ovaries were small and looked healthy. i suppose time will tell in terms of any other activity that might be going on. i went to the hospital at about eight this evening and sat with mom and dad and watched the state of the union address with them. mom, heavily morphined, drifted in and out. i held her hand and watched our president speak. i felt interested, yet emotionally detached. i guess that whole clapping-after-every-sentence mentality seemed hollow and inferior next to the reality of my mom's existence in a hospital bed.
they didn't use stitches after the laproscopy; they used glue.
i'm going to stay with her in the hospital tomorrow night. i'm looking forward to that, as a sort of weird hospital adventure and also as a way to express my appreciation for her. when i see her in the hospital bed the only thing i think that it might compare to is the feeling a parent might have for a child-- a need to take care of someone, to love them and protect them in their vulnerability. it feels good, satisfying to be able to take care of her, after she has taken care of me for so many years.