So yeah, this morning...
So yeah, this morning. I am in the shower and I hear Lori knock on the door. She hands me my cell phone and tells me that it has rung about 5 times. I check my voicemail, and it is my sister. She sound liek she is crying, and says "Brownie, call me back. It's an emergency." So I'm thinking "oh crap, something must have happened to the grandma we just found out has pancreatic cancer. I call her, and she is in fact crying, only it's my other grandma. She had trouble breathing, 911 was called, and she was in an ambulance on the way to the hospital. Don't know which one.
I dress, and call my boss. He's cool about it, saying that I should just take the whole day and that I can use sick time for it. I get a call back from my mom, and yes, it is grossmont hospital. Lori and I say our goodbyes, and we both leave, her for school, and I for the hospital. I get there, and I've beaten my mom and sister in, and even have to wait for my grandma to be ready to be seen. Mom and sister show up, and we all go into a waiting room, which I find out is the chaplain room. The chaplain shows up, makes us all feel worse, and goes away. comes back, we can see her.
She looks terrible. Really pale, lying in a funny position, tubes and sensors everywhere. That her teeth are not in makes it a bit worse. We are all sitting there with her, talking to her. Nurses are coming in and doing stuff. Her color returns, and she looks a lot better. Still under sedation due to the tube. My mom gets a call on her cellphone, and starts writing a note. The not is so my grandma can't hear what has to be said incase she can hear us.
The other grandma, the one with cancer, has taken a drastic turn for the worse, and has been given about 2-3 days to live. She is at home, in a hospice bed, and they are giving her morphine. I know where my next stop for the day is. So more time passes, lots more handholding and talking, and it's time to move her. We have to go to a waiting room, and my sister Michelle (who is a basket case, going between under control and crying like mad) and I go to get lunch for her, my mother and I. We eat in the visitor lounge, and go up. More talking, and hand holding. She is pretty responsive. Kind of looking at us, holding our hands back, and so on.
It is decided that Michelle and I are to go to Grandma Lou's (this is what we called the grandma with cancer) house to see her. When we get there, one of my cousin's husband is there, keeping an eye on her. He is a written letter of approval away from being an RN, so that makes me feel better. I don't feel better after I see her. Her face is very thin, and yellow from jaundice. Her stomache is bloated. ALready her organs are shutting down, and she is retaining a lot of fluid. We stay for a while. My dad decides that Michelle and I should go home (parents home) to let the dogs out, and we would return after.
When we get back, my aunt Lonnie is there, and we all talk for a long time. My cousin Heather shows up, and randy leaves with her to take their children home. The more I look a ther and my dad, themore it is evident how much they look alike. We check on my grandma periodically, and she is the same. We are just getting ready to leave for the night, and my cousin Scott shows up. He's a cool surfer dude kind of guy. Michelle and my dad go home, but I go back to the hospital with my mom to see the first grandma one more time before going home.
What a day.
I dress, and call my boss. He's cool about it, saying that I should just take the whole day and that I can use sick time for it. I get a call back from my mom, and yes, it is grossmont hospital. Lori and I say our goodbyes, and we both leave, her for school, and I for the hospital. I get there, and I've beaten my mom and sister in, and even have to wait for my grandma to be ready to be seen. Mom and sister show up, and we all go into a waiting room, which I find out is the chaplain room. The chaplain shows up, makes us all feel worse, and goes away. comes back, we can see her.
She looks terrible. Really pale, lying in a funny position, tubes and sensors everywhere. That her teeth are not in makes it a bit worse. We are all sitting there with her, talking to her. Nurses are coming in and doing stuff. Her color returns, and she looks a lot better. Still under sedation due to the tube. My mom gets a call on her cellphone, and starts writing a note. The not is so my grandma can't hear what has to be said incase she can hear us.
The other grandma, the one with cancer, has taken a drastic turn for the worse, and has been given about 2-3 days to live. She is at home, in a hospice bed, and they are giving her morphine. I know where my next stop for the day is. So more time passes, lots more handholding and talking, and it's time to move her. We have to go to a waiting room, and my sister Michelle (who is a basket case, going between under control and crying like mad) and I go to get lunch for her, my mother and I. We eat in the visitor lounge, and go up. More talking, and hand holding. She is pretty responsive. Kind of looking at us, holding our hands back, and so on.
It is decided that Michelle and I are to go to Grandma Lou's (this is what we called the grandma with cancer) house to see her. When we get there, one of my cousin's husband is there, keeping an eye on her. He is a written letter of approval away from being an RN, so that makes me feel better. I don't feel better after I see her. Her face is very thin, and yellow from jaundice. Her stomache is bloated. ALready her organs are shutting down, and she is retaining a lot of fluid. We stay for a while. My dad decides that Michelle and I should go home (parents home) to let the dogs out, and we would return after.
When we get back, my aunt Lonnie is there, and we all talk for a long time. My cousin Heather shows up, and randy leaves with her to take their children home. The more I look a ther and my dad, themore it is evident how much they look alike. We check on my grandma periodically, and she is the same. We are just getting ready to leave for the night, and my cousin Scott shows up. He's a cool surfer dude kind of guy. Michelle and my dad go home, but I go back to the hospital with my mom to see the first grandma one more time before going home.
What a day.