Jan 02, 2006 08:55
and postage has gone up to 39 cents. It figures... right when I decide letter writing will be my communication method of choice.
As for New Year's, well it was a mess. My family was scheduled to go up to East Harwich, MA (Cape Cod) and visit my grandmother since she couldn't come down to visit us. Leo and I went separately in his car. My family left much earlier, so an hour before we got there we got a call from my mom:
"Hi Amy. We just got here and you'll never believe it. Grammy isn't here."
"what? What do you mean?"
"We got here and there was a note on the door and there's blood everywhere. She's at the hospital."
*Freak out*
"What happnened?"
"The police left a note and it seems she cut her leg."
... Yes. It turns out that her dog, which is epileptic, had a seizure and its hind legs clawed the skin of her own lower right leg. She had to get stitches and bandaged up and they sent her home. Things were ok afterwards. She stayed up until the New Year, but her leg started bleeding again and my father had to put pressure on it for 15 minutes before it stopped. We elevated her leg in bed to keep it from bleeding again, but in the morning it was still goin... Blood on the sheets and on the floor. Plus she felt faint and weak, so we called the Harwich Rescue Squad again. They took her to the hospital, where she remains. Apparently her blood sugar is still out of wach too, the same situation she was in a couple months ago - and that was a disaster. She's diabetic and won't monitor her diet or her own blood sugar readings.
My parents have worked out schedule for home nurses and physical therapists to visit, but she fires them all; and assisted living is out of the question in her opinion. She can be awfully grouchy and stubborn. Plus, my mother found the blender out on the counter and two new, huge bottles of Martini stuff and vodka in the cupboard - empty. She's only 82. There's no reason for her to be driving herself into the grave.
Ugh. I feel the worst for my father. He's stressed out beyond belief by the situation, especially since his younger brother - the only other living relative - is on the west coast in Oregon. My father is the one who ends up driving 4 hours each way when my grandmother calls us demanding that there's garbage that needs to be taken to the dump or repairs made on the house, blah, blah, blah. Yet, she manages to drive to church... :P I dunno what the hell is going on. She just can't take care of herself reliably anymore.