You daren't believe, but, yes, this *is* an update!
I just went back to check when I last wrote here, and was simply alarmed to find how long it had been. Alarmed! I've been busy, so I knew it had been awhile, but I was avoiding checking how long since I have so much to write about that I had no idea where to start and the only way to deal with this is to procrastinate, obviously. I've been reading other people's posts, at least.
Most important things first: my grandma. It's been a roller coaster. I should start this off by saying she's doing well now, but it's taken awhile to get here. Things continued on pretty much the same, very, very slowly getting worse, but Grandma was pretty determined that she wasn't going to die. That said, she was very practical about the whole thing, very aware of the danger she was in - making sure everything was in order, getting Catherine a graduation card in case she didn't last long enough to see that, things like that - these things were just all Plan B. When she had breast cancer, the doctor told my dad and grandpa that she wasn't going to make it, but here she is forty-some years later, so knowing she wasn't going to give up was encouraging, at least. Then things went up and down for awhile.
Some doctors wanted her to get surgery because she wasn't getting better, but because the radiation treatments to her chest for the aforementioned cancer had damaged her ability to heal, no doctor was willing to perform heart surgery. I mean, there's a reason they gave her that fateful experimental treatment in Vancouver to begin with. Then things got a bit better, and she was moved out of CCU. They tried to get her walking again. They sent her home. She was only back for about two days before she was readmitted, this time because her lungs were still filling with blood and fluid and they couldn't figure out why. They had to drain them at least once a week. At this point, she was more frustrated than anything else.
Now, she's out of the hospital and into a physical rehabilitation center. They are getting her walking again, hopefully without a walker eventually. She's in good spirits. She is quite entertained by her current situation, telling us that we can all tell our friends that our grandma is in rehab! She's at our house right now, currently talking to Jenn on the phone, telling her that she's doing very well. We're cautiously hopeful. She seems to be more or less out of the woods. Here's hoping she stays out this time.
Well, I have more to talk about, but maybe I'll save that for another post. Until next time!
Most important things first: my grandma. It's been a roller coaster. I should start this off by saying she's doing well now, but it's taken awhile to get here. Things continued on pretty much the same, very, very slowly getting worse, but Grandma was pretty determined that she wasn't going to die. That said, she was very practical about the whole thing, very aware of the danger she was in - making sure everything was in order, getting Catherine a graduation card in case she didn't last long enough to see that, things like that - these things were just all Plan B. When she had breast cancer, the doctor told my dad and grandpa that she wasn't going to make it, but here she is forty-some years later, so knowing she wasn't going to give up was encouraging, at least. Then things went up and down for awhile.
Some doctors wanted her to get surgery because she wasn't getting better, but because the radiation treatments to her chest for the aforementioned cancer had damaged her ability to heal, no doctor was willing to perform heart surgery. I mean, there's a reason they gave her that fateful experimental treatment in Vancouver to begin with. Then things got a bit better, and she was moved out of CCU. They tried to get her walking again. They sent her home. She was only back for about two days before she was readmitted, this time because her lungs were still filling with blood and fluid and they couldn't figure out why. They had to drain them at least once a week. At this point, she was more frustrated than anything else.
Now, she's out of the hospital and into a physical rehabilitation center. They are getting her walking again, hopefully without a walker eventually. She's in good spirits. She is quite entertained by her current situation, telling us that we can all tell our friends that our grandma is in rehab! She's at our house right now, currently talking to Jenn on the phone, telling her that she's doing very well. We're cautiously hopeful. She seems to be more or less out of the woods. Here's hoping she stays out this time.
Well, I have more to talk about, but maybe I'll save that for another post. Until next time!