Dear Livejournal...
Dear Livejournal,
I guess I've been neglecting you lately, huh? Well, I'm sorry. I've had a rough couple of months. I guess I should go ahaid and talk about it... My great aunt Lena, who had lived with us for all our lives and raised my dad and his twin sister, had a stroke several weeks ago. Maybe a month and a half or so. She had already been bed fast for 2 years, and my sister, my mom, and I had been taking care of her. We had to change her adult diapers and everything. Well, after the stroke, we didn't think she'd make it home from the hospital, but she did. They sent out Hospice nurses to offer support or whatever, and we started having to spoon feed her and everything. Some days she was aware, but most of the time she wasn't. Finally, she started barely drinking and maybe eating a few spoonfuls of food a day. She wasn't able to take any of her medicine, and the nurses told us not to worry about it. Meanwhile, my grandpa, who was nearly blind and deaf, and who had vocal chord paralysis from an anyeurism, was getting sick. I had been helping him out for about 7 months because he couldn't drive himself around anymore or anything. I took him to his Dr.'s appointments, made sure he had his medicine, took him to get his hair cuts, and nails cut, and to get his blood work done every month. He calls me around midnight one night after Lena had her stroke and was home. He said he was having chest pains, so my husband and I took him to the hospital. We stayed until around 4 a.m., they wanted to keep him, but he would not stay. He said he was worried about Lena (his sister), and ultimately made us take him home. After my mom sic-ed my aunt Linda (who had previously taken care of him for 8 months before her mom [our grandma] got sick) on him, and he agreed to come back the next morning. I came home, and got in bed around 5 a.m. Somewhere around 9:30-ish, my mom woke me up to tell me that Papa (grandpa) wanted to go back to the hospital, and even though is daughter (my dad's twin sister) was there, he wouldn't leave until I got there. Well, we took him up there, and they admitted him. I stayed there with him and my aunt all day, I came home once or twice, until around 8 p.m. that night. I went back up the very next morning, so that my aunt could go home. The Dr.'s and Nurse practitioner and such, kept saying it wasn't his heart. But, they were giving me all kinds of messed up info. My husband showed up, since he was on his way home from work. We sat there with him, while they pumped him full of medicines, most of the day. Finally somewhere around 4 p.m., my dad was supposed to be coming up so I could come home. They had just given Papa some steroids in his IV to help him breath better. All of a sudden he sat up, with his hand between his chest and stomach, and said, "Something's wrong." I asked him what it was, and he said he didn't know. I asked him if he wanted me to get a nurse, but he didn't answer. So I ran out of the room and was asking for the nurse. She came out of the room next to his, and when we got back in there, Papa had collapsed and Matt had picked him up and leaned him back. The nurse started checking all of his stats, he was seizing up and his eyes rolled back and to the right. I told Matt to go downstairs and wait for dad, because if he came and saw that he'd freak out. Another nurse or aid or something came in, and they were both working on him. He was all seized up, and he started to gasp real hard for breath. Finally, the first nurse said she didn't have a pulse, and they started to work on him manually with a one of those ventilator pump thingies. At some point, the nurse sent me out to get another respiratory lady. They ended up making me leave the room. They had to use the paddles to bring him back. They told us that they had "restored his pulse". Which, I guess meant, technically he was alive. They took him back to ICU, and he flat-lined again. They brought him back again with the paddles, and the Dr. came in and told us that if it were his dad, that he would let him go. So my dad and his sister had to sign the papers to have him unplugged. He was on a ventilator in the side of his neck that was making him breath. That was on Friday. The following Wednesday was his funeral. It started at 11. We got Hospice to send out a nurse aid girl to sit with Lena while we went. We got back around 11:20, because it was a very short service. Papa didn't want a big fuss made. When we got home, the nurse told us that Lena had passed. She said it was about 11 when it happened. The same time that Papa's funeral started. We asked if she was asleep, and she said yes. Lena's funeral was on Friday. Within one week, we had lost 2 people. We had spent all of our money on flowers for Papa's funeral, so we didn't have much for Lena's. My aunt Linda bought some, and Matt got paid and we bought some supplies and me and Linda made the casket spray for her. It was beautiful. Then Holly and I made a couple of vase flower displays for her, too. I still haven't fully dealt with it all. My dad's half sister had come down from Ohio, and stayed with us until a few days ago. I haven't posted anything significant since then. I don't know if anyone will actually read this whole thing, but if you do... that's what's happened... I can't think anymore...
~Brandy
I guess I've been neglecting you lately, huh? Well, I'm sorry. I've had a rough couple of months. I guess I should go ahaid and talk about it... My great aunt Lena, who had lived with us for all our lives and raised my dad and his twin sister, had a stroke several weeks ago. Maybe a month and a half or so. She had already been bed fast for 2 years, and my sister, my mom, and I had been taking care of her. We had to change her adult diapers and everything. Well, after the stroke, we didn't think she'd make it home from the hospital, but she did. They sent out Hospice nurses to offer support or whatever, and we started having to spoon feed her and everything. Some days she was aware, but most of the time she wasn't. Finally, she started barely drinking and maybe eating a few spoonfuls of food a day. She wasn't able to take any of her medicine, and the nurses told us not to worry about it. Meanwhile, my grandpa, who was nearly blind and deaf, and who had vocal chord paralysis from an anyeurism, was getting sick. I had been helping him out for about 7 months because he couldn't drive himself around anymore or anything. I took him to his Dr.'s appointments, made sure he had his medicine, took him to get his hair cuts, and nails cut, and to get his blood work done every month. He calls me around midnight one night after Lena had her stroke and was home. He said he was having chest pains, so my husband and I took him to the hospital. We stayed until around 4 a.m., they wanted to keep him, but he would not stay. He said he was worried about Lena (his sister), and ultimately made us take him home. After my mom sic-ed my aunt Linda (who had previously taken care of him for 8 months before her mom [our grandma] got sick) on him, and he agreed to come back the next morning. I came home, and got in bed around 5 a.m. Somewhere around 9:30-ish, my mom woke me up to tell me that Papa (grandpa) wanted to go back to the hospital, and even though is daughter (my dad's twin sister) was there, he wouldn't leave until I got there. Well, we took him up there, and they admitted him. I stayed there with him and my aunt all day, I came home once or twice, until around 8 p.m. that night. I went back up the very next morning, so that my aunt could go home. The Dr.'s and Nurse practitioner and such, kept saying it wasn't his heart. But, they were giving me all kinds of messed up info. My husband showed up, since he was on his way home from work. We sat there with him, while they pumped him full of medicines, most of the day. Finally somewhere around 4 p.m., my dad was supposed to be coming up so I could come home. They had just given Papa some steroids in his IV to help him breath better. All of a sudden he sat up, with his hand between his chest and stomach, and said, "Something's wrong." I asked him what it was, and he said he didn't know. I asked him if he wanted me to get a nurse, but he didn't answer. So I ran out of the room and was asking for the nurse. She came out of the room next to his, and when we got back in there, Papa had collapsed and Matt had picked him up and leaned him back. The nurse started checking all of his stats, he was seizing up and his eyes rolled back and to the right. I told Matt to go downstairs and wait for dad, because if he came and saw that he'd freak out. Another nurse or aid or something came in, and they were both working on him. He was all seized up, and he started to gasp real hard for breath. Finally, the first nurse said she didn't have a pulse, and they started to work on him manually with a one of those ventilator pump thingies. At some point, the nurse sent me out to get another respiratory lady. They ended up making me leave the room. They had to use the paddles to bring him back. They told us that they had "restored his pulse". Which, I guess meant, technically he was alive. They took him back to ICU, and he flat-lined again. They brought him back again with the paddles, and the Dr. came in and told us that if it were his dad, that he would let him go. So my dad and his sister had to sign the papers to have him unplugged. He was on a ventilator in the side of his neck that was making him breath. That was on Friday. The following Wednesday was his funeral. It started at 11. We got Hospice to send out a nurse aid girl to sit with Lena while we went. We got back around 11:20, because it was a very short service. Papa didn't want a big fuss made. When we got home, the nurse told us that Lena had passed. She said it was about 11 when it happened. The same time that Papa's funeral started. We asked if she was asleep, and she said yes. Lena's funeral was on Friday. Within one week, we had lost 2 people. We had spent all of our money on flowers for Papa's funeral, so we didn't have much for Lena's. My aunt Linda bought some, and Matt got paid and we bought some supplies and me and Linda made the casket spray for her. It was beautiful. Then Holly and I made a couple of vase flower displays for her, too. I still haven't fully dealt with it all. My dad's half sister had come down from Ohio, and stayed with us until a few days ago. I haven't posted anything significant since then. I don't know if anyone will actually read this whole thing, but if you do... that's what's happened... I can't think anymore...
~Brandy