She’s 97, and been a trooper all her life. She’s outlived her husband and my Dad, and is the last living ancestor I have.
About 2 weeks ago, she woke up in the middle of the night with severe abdominal pain, and managed to get herself an ambulance to get to the hospital. Turns out her hiatal hernia had ruptured, and her stomach perforated. She was in surgery, and it went so well that some of the hernia was repaired after they pulled her stomach out of her chest.
She did some time in ICU, then a regular hospital room, and was released to a nursing home.
I just got the call that she’s confused and her kidneys aren’t working, so reading between the lines, her BP must be dropping. She’s back in the hospital, and the doctors have advised that family keep her company. I suspect the end is near.
I’ve been itching to get back to Indiana, but I wanted it to be for the sale of my house, not to bury Grandma.
The trouble with a trooper like your Grandma is that it gets to the point in life that they seem to out live everything and when something like this happens, it just doesn’t seem possible that she will ever pass on.
Not that you want her to go, it’s just that you’ve grown accustom to her always being there.
The staff haven’t one clue of much moxie your grandma has. She could outlive them all.
Sorry to hear that she has had a setback. I hope that she pulls through - sometimes people can surprise you - but regardless of the outcome, I hope that she doesn’t suffer. All my best to your family.
An update, for anyone who is still paying attention.
Granny’s kidneys have started to work again, but she’s still out in the ozone. My sister went to see her yesterday; Grandma knew her about half the time, and the other half she was saying goofy stuff like “We gotta turn this thing around! You know we have no brakes!”
Funny on one hand, especially if you knew the old girl in her better days, but monumentally sad for precisely the same reason.
She’s being sent to a nursing home tomorrow from the hospital. That’s means in the short term she’s improved, but it’s also her doom. She’s been so adamant about not wanting to go to a nursing home, that if she ever regains enough lucidity to realize where she is, she’ll give up completely.
Oh well, I guess I don’t have to rush my suit to the cleaners, but I better get it there nonetheless.
My grandmother insisted she never wanted to go to the nursing home, too, but when at 95 she developed pneumonia and stubbornly refused to die from it, she ended up in a nursing home for a month. She became the social queen of the nursing home – within 24 hours had the nurses giving her all kinds of special treatment, introducing people to each other in the dining hall, etc. She did just fine, and went home again and lived quite happily for another seven years; she passed away finally this fall at age 102.
I’m pulling for your grandma. As my grandmother’s doctor pointed out, “When the body has lived for 95 years, it gets in the habit of living.” Definitely words to live by!
I’m kinda late on the thread, but I sure hope she is still doing well. Have you heard anymore? We just recently went through the deaths of my in-laws. It was horrible. They both made it to 76 yrs of age and had been married 58yrs. I don’t think we will ever get over it. Anyway hope your grandma is doing better.
