| Saturday, February 24, 2007 |
| Hurry up and wait |
So I got the call this morning. Dad called to say that they had to take out Grandma's feeding tube and that "it was only just a matter of time." He asked when Resa would be here... Yikes. So I talked to Val, and we agreed that Resa needed to have another late night alarmist phone call. Sorry, Resa.
I got up, showered, fed myself and Cam, and asked TJ to finish the laundry for me. I was mentally prepared to sit up at the hospital for however long this was going to take. I got in the car, and called Dad's cell phone...I thought I'd see if anyone needed anything to eat. He was at work. ?? I called Aunt Rachel at the hospital, and she was the only one there. ??! This does not sound like a death watch to me. I stopped at McD's and got her some lunch and headed up to the hospital.
Grandma's been moved to a private room. This whole time (two weeks) she's been in the hospital she's been mostly incoherent...usually completely unconscious. I walked in the room today, and there's Aunt Rachel holding her hand...and Grandma looks up at me! She's awake...for the most part. She sort of mumbled something (she didn't have her teeth in) so it was difficult to understand her. Aunt Rachel said she was asking to sit up...I was skeptical and assumed she was interpreting what she wanted to hear. However, by the time I left, I could understand what she was saying. I heard her ask to sit up twice, and she told the nurse she was hungry.
A guy from Hospice came in about halfway through the visit to make arrangements. He ensured that there was a living will, a DNR, and all those fun things. He took down a list of closest relatives, and asked if there was a history of mental illness in the family. Heh. A loaded question if I ever heard one. Aunt Rachel tactfully answered no. He said that Hospice is there for the patient, but also for the family...comforting stuff. Then he asked about funeral homes and religion and pastors and such. He was kind of surprised by the fact that Grandma was awake...Aunt Rachel said that she was, too. Yesterday was a bad, bad day, and they expected the worst. Today she woke up. ??
So. I called Val at work and asked her if she wanted me to come in and cover the store for her so she could go visit while Grandma was relatively lucid. I hung around at work for a while and now I'm back home. I'm tired. I've decided that Grandma is just too ornery to give up without a tussle. This is the second weekend in a row that she was not supposed to survive...I may not survive another one like this. Shoo. |
posted by Jen @ 1:19 PM  |
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| 2 Comments: |
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Lots of hugs girl!!! As I mentioned before it is not unusual for a person to seem to get better right before they pass. I think it's a way for us and for the person crossing the veil to have an opportunity to say goodbye. So spend some time with her while she's lucid. Tell her about the things you loved doing with her.
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Lots of hugs girl!!! As I mentioned before it is not unusual for a person to seem to get better right before they pass. I think it's a way for us and for the person crossing the veil to have an opportunity to say goodbye. So spend some time with her while she's lucid. Tell her about the things you loved doing with her.