(no subject)
Just wanted to do a quick post to say, for those of you who have been praying, that its looking good for my Oma. I found out that the surgery she had actually is something that they will often do for people with heart problems as a day surgery. If, you know, they hadn't just had a major heart attack. It's because my Oma has always been so healthy that they hadn't noticed that this problem had been building up for awhile. On the other hand, she did wake up at one point shortly after the surgery, throw up, and inhale some vomit into her lungs. This will probably cause an infection, which hopefully does not lead to pneumonia.
Still... I visited her for about an hour yesterday. It was hard. Very hard. She has a feeding tube down her throat, so she can't talk. There are a million other tubes and iv's hooked up to her as well, so many that she can only half wear the hospital gown. My Oma is a tiny woman, and seeing her in the big ICU hospital bed, all those tubes, wrapped in a sheet with the hospital gown not covering one of her shoulders...
I held her hand, because I couldn't think of what to say. I prayed with her, for her, the way she had done so many times for me. I tried to rattle off small talk about work, the weather, and Funny Things That Happened To Me The Other Day. When she drifted off to sleep, I just sat there, not wanting to leave her alone.
My mom came by, eventually, and seemed much better at dealing with the situation (although there were tears in her eyes when we later left the hospital room). She brought out a pen and paper, and my Oma proceeded to tell her where all the food in her house was.
You see, she's been preparing food all week. Because my aunt and uncle were in town for a wedding, and we were going to celebrate her upcoming 85th birthday while we were here. Yes, my Oma felt the need to cook for her own birthday party. Yes, her first worry while in the hospital bed was that all that food wasn't going to be eaten, and who knows, we might even all go hungry.
They might be moving her out of ICU this afternoon, if the night went well. I'm off to spend the day at my parents (I overslept, somewhat accidental, somewhat on purpose, and missed church this morning). The rest of my relatives should be there this afternoon as well, and I'll probably visit her, although yesterday, the other thing she told my mom was that she didn't want visitors "until she was feeling better."
She will feel better. There is still fight left in her.
Still... I visited her for about an hour yesterday. It was hard. Very hard. She has a feeding tube down her throat, so she can't talk. There are a million other tubes and iv's hooked up to her as well, so many that she can only half wear the hospital gown. My Oma is a tiny woman, and seeing her in the big ICU hospital bed, all those tubes, wrapped in a sheet with the hospital gown not covering one of her shoulders...
I held her hand, because I couldn't think of what to say. I prayed with her, for her, the way she had done so many times for me. I tried to rattle off small talk about work, the weather, and Funny Things That Happened To Me The Other Day. When she drifted off to sleep, I just sat there, not wanting to leave her alone.
My mom came by, eventually, and seemed much better at dealing with the situation (although there were tears in her eyes when we later left the hospital room). She brought out a pen and paper, and my Oma proceeded to tell her where all the food in her house was.
You see, she's been preparing food all week. Because my aunt and uncle were in town for a wedding, and we were going to celebrate her upcoming 85th birthday while we were here. Yes, my Oma felt the need to cook for her own birthday party. Yes, her first worry while in the hospital bed was that all that food wasn't going to be eaten, and who knows, we might even all go hungry.
They might be moving her out of ICU this afternoon, if the night went well. I'm off to spend the day at my parents (I overslept, somewhat accidental, somewhat on purpose, and missed church this morning). The rest of my relatives should be there this afternoon as well, and I'll probably visit her, although yesterday, the other thing she told my mom was that she didn't want visitors "until she was feeling better."
She will feel better. There is still fight left in her.