My grandma makes these awesome cookies. They are chocolate with a maraschino cherry in the middle and then covered in chocolate. This is the only way I like maraschino cherries. On my first mission trip she made a whole batch for me and met me at the airport with a tin filled with them. They tasted so good! Especially after 10 days of rice and beans.
On April 11 my Grandma O (Gram) fell and broke her hip. It was very strange. My uncle had just had lunch with her. She got out of the car and fell. Just like that. My uncle could tell right away that her hip was broken because of the angle. She went to the hospital and had surgery. The kids and I visited her a few days later. She was happy to see us. After a few more days at the hospital, she was transferred to a rehab place for physical therapy. Before we headed back to Vegas (April 21), I visited her there. She mentioned to me that she was in some pain, so I passed that on to my mom.
Some time passed and my mom mentioned how short of breath my grandma was. Keep in mind, she does have COPD and has been a smoker for a very long time. But at the rehab place she was on oxygen and she was still short of breath even from just talking. I thought right away that she must have pneumonia. It seemed strange to me that prior to her hip she wasn't on oxygen and smoking and didn't have this much trouble breathing. Sure enough. When my parents and aunt and uncle requested a chest x-ray it was confirmed that she had pneumonia. It seemed strange that the medical people didn't think to check that.
On Thursday, May 15 my grandma was taken back to the hospital because of low oxygen levels. Sunday May 18 I got a text from my mom that Gram had to be resuscitated. This surprised me on several levels. For one, I have known for years that Gram has a DNR in place. So why did they? (But secretly I was glad, because that did allow me to see her again). It also surprised me because it seemed out of the blue. Sure, she was on oxygen, but still? When my parents got to the hospital they found out that the resuscitation actually happened on Thursday. But no one bothered to tell her family until Sunday. Really??
Monday, May 19, my grandma was transferred back to the rehab place. We also made the decision to fly home on Tuesday. Tuesday afternoon we landed in Minneapolis. On the way home we stopped by to say hi. She seemed to recognize us (although she called Odin, David) and was happy to see us. Adelyn gave her a bunch of pictures that she colored and painted.
On Wednesday I wanted to visit her again, but our day turned into a little craziness. And she had a doctor appointment that afternoon, so our visiting times were limited. So I planned on visiting her on Thursday after bringing Ben to the airport (he had to go back). I knew that I wanted to bring her cookies, so I started making them right away. Her doctor appointment was ok. He said that her right lung wasn't working at all and her left was barely working. He agreed with the DNR as her body is just too weak to ever really recover if that happens again.
Thursday morning I get a call from my mom that Gram has been transferred to the hospital. I was so confused. After she got back to rehab on Monday my parents made sure that all the paperwork for the DNR was in her file so they wouldn't do anything for her. After some calls and some waiting, we found out that the admitting doctor in the ER was sending her back to rehab because of her DNR. My parents met her at the rehab place she was pretty tired and out of it. Ben changed his flight to 5 pm so I could head over there.
When I got to her room, she woke up right away. We talked very briefly, but it was clear that she was too tired for company. She did say, "It's been an exciting week, huh?" Understatement, but yeah. I found my parents and aunt and uncle in a conference with the Assistant Director of Nursing to find out why she was taken to the ER. I guess her oxygen level was 60 and they couldn't get it up (normal is 100, they want her at 90). She was agitated and uncomfortable, so they asked her if she wanted to go to the hospital. She said yes. That superseded the DNR, apparently. While I understand, it is frustrating because my grandma isn't of sound mind. Especially with all the recent medical drama. You can ask her the same thing within a minute and get two different responses. So, after more paperwork, the dude told us that instead of bringing her to the hospital, they could give her something like morphine, and then call us to see what we want to do.
After the meeting we went back to the room and found her sitting and eating lunch! Well, the cookies I brought her, but that counts as lunch, right? We were all a little shocked. Happy, but shocked. We were able to have a nice visit with her.
So now it's a waiting game. But I got to tell her that I loved her. And I got to give her cookies.
On April 11 my Grandma O (Gram) fell and broke her hip. It was very strange. My uncle had just had lunch with her. She got out of the car and fell. Just like that. My uncle could tell right away that her hip was broken because of the angle. She went to the hospital and had surgery. The kids and I visited her a few days later. She was happy to see us. After a few more days at the hospital, she was transferred to a rehab place for physical therapy. Before we headed back to Vegas (April 21), I visited her there. She mentioned to me that she was in some pain, so I passed that on to my mom.
Some time passed and my mom mentioned how short of breath my grandma was. Keep in mind, she does have COPD and has been a smoker for a very long time. But at the rehab place she was on oxygen and she was still short of breath even from just talking. I thought right away that she must have pneumonia. It seemed strange to me that prior to her hip she wasn't on oxygen and smoking and didn't have this much trouble breathing. Sure enough. When my parents and aunt and uncle requested a chest x-ray it was confirmed that she had pneumonia. It seemed strange that the medical people didn't think to check that.
On Thursday, May 15 my grandma was taken back to the hospital because of low oxygen levels. Sunday May 18 I got a text from my mom that Gram had to be resuscitated. This surprised me on several levels. For one, I have known for years that Gram has a DNR in place. So why did they? (But secretly I was glad, because that did allow me to see her again). It also surprised me because it seemed out of the blue. Sure, she was on oxygen, but still? When my parents got to the hospital they found out that the resuscitation actually happened on Thursday. But no one bothered to tell her family until Sunday. Really??
Monday, May 19, my grandma was transferred back to the rehab place. We also made the decision to fly home on Tuesday. Tuesday afternoon we landed in Minneapolis. On the way home we stopped by to say hi. She seemed to recognize us (although she called Odin, David) and was happy to see us. Adelyn gave her a bunch of pictures that she colored and painted.
On Wednesday I wanted to visit her again, but our day turned into a little craziness. And she had a doctor appointment that afternoon, so our visiting times were limited. So I planned on visiting her on Thursday after bringing Ben to the airport (he had to go back). I knew that I wanted to bring her cookies, so I started making them right away. Her doctor appointment was ok. He said that her right lung wasn't working at all and her left was barely working. He agreed with the DNR as her body is just too weak to ever really recover if that happens again.
Thursday morning I get a call from my mom that Gram has been transferred to the hospital. I was so confused. After she got back to rehab on Monday my parents made sure that all the paperwork for the DNR was in her file so they wouldn't do anything for her. After some calls and some waiting, we found out that the admitting doctor in the ER was sending her back to rehab because of her DNR. My parents met her at the rehab place she was pretty tired and out of it. Ben changed his flight to 5 pm so I could head over there.
When I got to her room, she woke up right away. We talked very briefly, but it was clear that she was too tired for company. She did say, "It's been an exciting week, huh?" Understatement, but yeah. I found my parents and aunt and uncle in a conference with the Assistant Director of Nursing to find out why she was taken to the ER. I guess her oxygen level was 60 and they couldn't get it up (normal is 100, they want her at 90). She was agitated and uncomfortable, so they asked her if she wanted to go to the hospital. She said yes. That superseded the DNR, apparently. While I understand, it is frustrating because my grandma isn't of sound mind. Especially with all the recent medical drama. You can ask her the same thing within a minute and get two different responses. So, after more paperwork, the dude told us that instead of bringing her to the hospital, they could give her something like morphine, and then call us to see what we want to do.
After the meeting we went back to the room and found her sitting and eating lunch! Well, the cookies I brought her, but that counts as lunch, right? We were all a little shocked. Happy, but shocked. We were able to have a nice visit with her.
So now it's a waiting game. But I got to tell her that I loved her. And I got to give her cookies.
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