Grandpa update...
So I never really updated everybody when both of my Papas came out of the hospital, but they did...
Papa Jim came home and has pretty much been bedridden since...we got a hospital bed for him but hospice and physical therapy come a few times a week and have been working with him doing exercises, etc. He can get up and walk around with his walker, and the other day was able to go down and up all 15 stairs (with help) but he was very exhausted afterwards. It doesn't help that he can't see at all and gets really disoriented as it is. He's been having good days and bad days pain wise...last night my Nana thought he was having a heart attack because he said he was in so much pain, but he doesn't understand the concept of rating the pain on a 1-10 scale, so its hard to know how severe it all is. Then this evening he was joking around with me about stuff, so its up and down.
Papa Santos came home and had been doing okay - having an in-home care guy come to help him walk around/do exercises during the day, but for the most part he would sit in a chair all day and sometimes it takes 4 people to get him up. On Friday he had what they think is a stroke or a minor heart attack and went back into the hospital. He's having really bad tremors and can not speak at all...just stares blankly at you with his mouth hanging open. They are running tests on him to see what exactly happened, but I guess with a stroke they can't tell for sure until a month or so after the fact due to damaged brain tissue in the MRI. The tremors have gotten better since Friday, but his face is very swollen and drooped on one side, so we're pretty sure it was a stroke.
All this just makes me upset...they are both old and in poor health, and while I don't wish for either of them to be gone...I really don't think this is living at all. They are both tired and frustrated, and its painful having to watch them suffer when we all know that they are never going to back in healthy condition again. I guess its all part of some bigger plan we can't understand, but its so frustrating to helplessly watch it happen.
Papa Jim came home and has pretty much been bedridden since...we got a hospital bed for him but hospice and physical therapy come a few times a week and have been working with him doing exercises, etc. He can get up and walk around with his walker, and the other day was able to go down and up all 15 stairs (with help) but he was very exhausted afterwards. It doesn't help that he can't see at all and gets really disoriented as it is. He's been having good days and bad days pain wise...last night my Nana thought he was having a heart attack because he said he was in so much pain, but he doesn't understand the concept of rating the pain on a 1-10 scale, so its hard to know how severe it all is. Then this evening he was joking around with me about stuff, so its up and down.
Papa Santos came home and had been doing okay - having an in-home care guy come to help him walk around/do exercises during the day, but for the most part he would sit in a chair all day and sometimes it takes 4 people to get him up. On Friday he had what they think is a stroke or a minor heart attack and went back into the hospital. He's having really bad tremors and can not speak at all...just stares blankly at you with his mouth hanging open. They are running tests on him to see what exactly happened, but I guess with a stroke they can't tell for sure until a month or so after the fact due to damaged brain tissue in the MRI. The tremors have gotten better since Friday, but his face is very swollen and drooped on one side, so we're pretty sure it was a stroke.
All this just makes me upset...they are both old and in poor health, and while I don't wish for either of them to be gone...I really don't think this is living at all. They are both tired and frustrated, and its painful having to watch them suffer when we all know that they are never going to back in healthy condition again. I guess its all part of some bigger plan we can't understand, but its so frustrating to helplessly watch it happen.