.:Ahhh:.
It felt good to get a little extra sleep this morning. I wish that it happened more often!
So, the weekend....
Saturday morning I got up and did some cleaning, then headed up to Logan. I met my parents where my cousin is going to beauty school up there. Then we headed over to the new treatment facility that my grandpa is going to be moving into. It is a really nice place, and I think it will be a good fit for him. We ate lunch there with my grandpa, aunt, and uncle, so that my grandpa could test out the food. My grandpa seems to be doing pretty well physically, as well as mentally. He is still cracking jokes, so we're all happy to see that he still has his sense of humor. It is pretty sad to watch him resign himself to the fact that he can't go home, and probably never will be able to. He's almost 93, and with the severity of his diabetes, there's really no way he can go home and get the care that he needs. His insulin is administered on a sliding scale - meaning that every four hours or so, he gets his glucose level checked and the amount of insulin is determined from that. At the rehab center he is at now, he is being checked on every hour or so, as well as getting those levels checked. If he went home and had home health care, he would be really putting himself at risk for those times in between getting his levels checked; anything could happen. So it was a bit sad to watch him deal with it all. I can only imagine how difficult that must be.
After lunch, we met some of my cousins and my other aunt and uncle up at my grandma's grave. That's the first time I've been to the grave since her funeral. It is a beautiful grave site, with a really nice headstone. My grandpa got pretty choked up, and thanked us all for taking the time to go be there. It must be so hard to lose your companion. We then dropped my grandpa off at his rehab center so that he could get some rest. My parents and I headed to the mall to do some shopping. Luckily my mom was feeling generous and bought me, as well as Josh, a couple of things. After shopping was Aggie ice cream, and then back to see my grandpa.
When we left, it was really sad. My grandpa was really teary saying goodbye to my dad, which in turn made my mom and I pretty teary. At the end of the day, my dad is still his little boy. Each time he has to say goodbye, he realizes that it could be the last time. I felt badly leaving him there.
We headed down to meet up with Josh for dinner at Ruby Tuesday. Came home, showed my parents our house, and unloaded the scooters out of my parents horse trailer. Josh and I took them for a quick spin, and then got them into the garage. It's pretty fun to have those now.
Yesterday consisted of church in the morning, and then home for lunchies. After we had all eaten something, we decided to go out for a drive. We drove around up by Kennecott, which looked pretty interesting. We're hoping to go back sometime and check out the visitor's center. When we got home from our drive, we were all pretty sleepy, so we popped Brian Regan in and all fell asleep. My mom and I got up first, and she made some phone calls while I made dinner for everyone. I was pretty impressed with my cooking skills if I do say so myself. :) I think I actually like cooking - I guess I should do it more often! Once we were all cleaned up, we headed out for a nice walk. When we got back, we watched Bourne Identity and headed to bed.
Josh had to work at 4:45 this morning, so he was out of here pretty early. I got up and saw my parents off around seven, and then got back in bed until almost ten! I've just been running errands and getting some laundry done. I should probably be getting going on my school stuff now! Dan, Adam, and Amanda are all coming over this afternoon/evening to play on the scooters with us. It should be pretty fun. Then back to the real world tomorrow.
All in all, a fabulous weekend. It was really nice to see my parents and be able to show them where we live now. It was long enough, as usual, but it was better than not seeing them at all!
Other than that, just waiting to hear the next news on my uncle. Poor guy....my mom visited him last weekend, and it was really difficult for her. Physically, he is doing great! His liver is working well, and the rest of his organs are just doing great. But from all of the anesthesia and sedation, it is really making his mental capacities go quickly. Apparently this is a common side effect, but one that the transplant team failed to tell anyone about. He has fought a couple of infections, so that obviously didn't help. But his lucid moments are few and far between right now. For instance...he has chewed through one of his iv lines and pulled out his stomach drain tube (it's now taped behind his back so that he can't get to it), he once though his feet were puppies, he thought that pandora's box was in his hospital room with imaginary writing on it that only he could see with directions of how to open it, he thinks there is salt all over in his bed, and that my grandpa (who is not there right now) has been sleeping on the floor next to him. He's also had imaginary phone calls, and just lots of horrible things like that. I can't even imagine watching a loved one go through that. It was pretty wearing on my mom, so I can only imagine how my aunt feels. The transplant team keeps saying that he will pull out of it - that it's just a side effect that quite a few patients experience. It's really just getting scary. Obviously, we all want him to stay alive and be healthy, but if has to live out the rest of his life how he is now, then it doesn't really seem worth it. I know that sounds bad, but hopefully it makes sense to some degree. We're just hoping he pulls out of it soon. My grandparents are really struggling as well. No one should ever have to watch their son die before them. I feel so badly for him and them...
Anyway, I guess this entry is plenty long.
So, the weekend....
Saturday morning I got up and did some cleaning, then headed up to Logan. I met my parents where my cousin is going to beauty school up there. Then we headed over to the new treatment facility that my grandpa is going to be moving into. It is a really nice place, and I think it will be a good fit for him. We ate lunch there with my grandpa, aunt, and uncle, so that my grandpa could test out the food. My grandpa seems to be doing pretty well physically, as well as mentally. He is still cracking jokes, so we're all happy to see that he still has his sense of humor. It is pretty sad to watch him resign himself to the fact that he can't go home, and probably never will be able to. He's almost 93, and with the severity of his diabetes, there's really no way he can go home and get the care that he needs. His insulin is administered on a sliding scale - meaning that every four hours or so, he gets his glucose level checked and the amount of insulin is determined from that. At the rehab center he is at now, he is being checked on every hour or so, as well as getting those levels checked. If he went home and had home health care, he would be really putting himself at risk for those times in between getting his levels checked; anything could happen. So it was a bit sad to watch him deal with it all. I can only imagine how difficult that must be.
After lunch, we met some of my cousins and my other aunt and uncle up at my grandma's grave. That's the first time I've been to the grave since her funeral. It is a beautiful grave site, with a really nice headstone. My grandpa got pretty choked up, and thanked us all for taking the time to go be there. It must be so hard to lose your companion. We then dropped my grandpa off at his rehab center so that he could get some rest. My parents and I headed to the mall to do some shopping. Luckily my mom was feeling generous and bought me, as well as Josh, a couple of things. After shopping was Aggie ice cream, and then back to see my grandpa.
When we left, it was really sad. My grandpa was really teary saying goodbye to my dad, which in turn made my mom and I pretty teary. At the end of the day, my dad is still his little boy. Each time he has to say goodbye, he realizes that it could be the last time. I felt badly leaving him there.
We headed down to meet up with Josh for dinner at Ruby Tuesday. Came home, showed my parents our house, and unloaded the scooters out of my parents horse trailer. Josh and I took them for a quick spin, and then got them into the garage. It's pretty fun to have those now.
Yesterday consisted of church in the morning, and then home for lunchies. After we had all eaten something, we decided to go out for a drive. We drove around up by Kennecott, which looked pretty interesting. We're hoping to go back sometime and check out the visitor's center. When we got home from our drive, we were all pretty sleepy, so we popped Brian Regan in and all fell asleep. My mom and I got up first, and she made some phone calls while I made dinner for everyone. I was pretty impressed with my cooking skills if I do say so myself. :) I think I actually like cooking - I guess I should do it more often! Once we were all cleaned up, we headed out for a nice walk. When we got back, we watched Bourne Identity and headed to bed.
Josh had to work at 4:45 this morning, so he was out of here pretty early. I got up and saw my parents off around seven, and then got back in bed until almost ten! I've just been running errands and getting some laundry done. I should probably be getting going on my school stuff now! Dan, Adam, and Amanda are all coming over this afternoon/evening to play on the scooters with us. It should be pretty fun. Then back to the real world tomorrow.
All in all, a fabulous weekend. It was really nice to see my parents and be able to show them where we live now. It was long enough, as usual, but it was better than not seeing them at all!
Other than that, just waiting to hear the next news on my uncle. Poor guy....my mom visited him last weekend, and it was really difficult for her. Physically, he is doing great! His liver is working well, and the rest of his organs are just doing great. But from all of the anesthesia and sedation, it is really making his mental capacities go quickly. Apparently this is a common side effect, but one that the transplant team failed to tell anyone about. He has fought a couple of infections, so that obviously didn't help. But his lucid moments are few and far between right now. For instance...he has chewed through one of his iv lines and pulled out his stomach drain tube (it's now taped behind his back so that he can't get to it), he once though his feet were puppies, he thought that pandora's box was in his hospital room with imaginary writing on it that only he could see with directions of how to open it, he thinks there is salt all over in his bed, and that my grandpa (who is not there right now) has been sleeping on the floor next to him. He's also had imaginary phone calls, and just lots of horrible things like that. I can't even imagine watching a loved one go through that. It was pretty wearing on my mom, so I can only imagine how my aunt feels. The transplant team keeps saying that he will pull out of it - that it's just a side effect that quite a few patients experience. It's really just getting scary. Obviously, we all want him to stay alive and be healthy, but if has to live out the rest of his life how he is now, then it doesn't really seem worth it. I know that sounds bad, but hopefully it makes sense to some degree. We're just hoping he pulls out of it soon. My grandparents are really struggling as well. No one should ever have to watch their son die before them. I feel so badly for him and them...
Anyway, I guess this entry is plenty long.