The thing with my mom turned out to be only semi-serious luckily. I'm not sure what exactly the condition is, but basically it was some kind of infection in my mom's intestines. She's been stuck in bed for the last couple days but otherwise she's doing OK. Nothing really long term, except she has to watch what she eats, and make sure she eats more fiber (I guess that was part of the problem.) Apparently the condition runs in the family, so I guess I should watch out too. Whew.