Spending Time at the Hospital...

My 91 year old grandmother hasn't been feeling well lately-she usually is a spry, sassy old broad that is cleaning house, cooking and making sure she doesn't leave without her "rouge" on and her bright red lipstick and earrings.

Unfortunately, she hasn't been out in awhile. For the past year or so, her legs have gotten sore-and she's been complaining that they felt like they were on fire. Up until a week or so ago, she was still cooking and walking around-albeit slowly-because of her sore legs and feet. She'd been to numerous podiatrists, who commented on a hammer toe, bunions and plantars warts she'd gotten from the ill fitting shoes she'd worn over the years.

In the last week, she literally stopped eating, slept all the time, complained of a pins & needles feeling in her left arm and huge blisters filled with fluid began appearing on her lower legs. Plus, for someone who has always been alert, she started acting very strangely-in a very short amount of time. (didn't know dates, years, people etc...)

Anyways, mom had been threatening to call 911 and have the ambulance take her to the hospital. But she always protested. I got pissed yesterday and told my mom that she was going to die unless she got to the hospital. It took her four hours to go down 4 stairs on her fanny. Then she stopped. Hubby Jose had to go get her and carry her down the rest of the stairs.

Guess where she is tonight? Yup, she's in the Coronary/Intensive Care Unit-hooked up to so many machines that are bleeping and blaring and scaring the bejesus out of me every time one of those suckers goes off. She is also getting IV's to replace fluids lost. Her brain looked ok, but she has kidney and heart damage-not sure from what yet-may have had a heart attack and not even known it the doctor says. She was also taking high blood pressure pills daily, along with some other pill that lowers her heart rate. Not a good thing-what is supposed to be beating 60-100x is going around 40 as of tonight. It was as low as 33 last night, so it has improved some. But not enough. They are waiting for this drug to get out of her system, to see if that is what the low heart rate is caused by.

Now wouldn't you know she got a MALE nurse yesterday. And he had to give her a catheter. And take rectal temps. On a 91 year old woman who wanted the cobwebs down there to stay put, as she said. Well, the first darn thing she said after we went back in the room was how she was mortified that "that boy" saw her stripped nekkid. She was somewhat out of it, (she's on morphine now) and we had to explain that "that boy" was indeed a young man called Chance who was her male nurse. She didn't put up much of a fight because she was so weak, but lemme tell ya, she was pretty disgusted by it all.

Her body temperature was dangerously low, 91 degrees and heading downwards. So they put this blanket on her (actually some plastic type thing that has hot air blowing up to inflate it, and keep her warm) and all night she was yanking it off her saying she was hot. (she was freezing cold, but I couldn't convince her of that!) I kept tellin' her that she was back in the 40's going thru her change of life and having hot flashes again, and to deal with it. She smiled, but wasn't gonna listen. So she is mostly drugged now, on morphine and other goodies to make sure she sleeps well as she continues on IV's and machines monitoring her every bodily function.

At 91, she has lived a good life. And seen many things. With my dad passing this past Valentine's Day, it seems too soon. But what will be, will be. And we are taking things one day at a time. Yesterday she said she was gonna live till she was 100 and have a hell of a party...she'd better do what she says, we've got a rum and coke riding on it.

Heading to bed now, between the kids, the hospital and housework I'm exhausted! G'nite everyone!