Yep, the idea was a quick trip down on Thursday night, back by Sunday evening -- a little time with Grandma and I'm done.
Not so fast -- my grandfather threw us a curve ball....
He's had an aortic aneurism for a long time -- it's a family thing for the men on his side of the family. He had the Mayo do some new reinforcing technique to fix it about 5 years ago.
Last week on Wednesday, it burst. He went into 7 hours of emergency surgery and then the intensive care unit. He made some progress for a day or two - and then began to slip.
On Sunday last week, some other family members were going back home -- and it became really clear that Grandpa probably wouldn't last long. That is when I decided to cancel class for the week and stay here. I knew that I'd be needed by Super-mom and Aunt-S -- and especially since last semester I did breast cancer with only two days of class canceled... the school could survive without me for a week when they needed me the most.
I could see that we'd need to move Grandma to a rehab unit, sit with Grandpa and probably plan a funeral with all the little details that go along with it --- and I couldn't stand the thought of leaving my mom and Aunt S to do all of that.
On Tuesday afternoon, the family made the decision to withdraw treatment and he passed away about 5:45 PM.
Grandma is doing very well with her recovery -- and now we're planning grandpa's funeral.
I'll be here until this Sunday -- when I get home, I'll post the details behind why I found myself saying "I'm a medical ethicst and I don't like the way this conversation is going...". Until then, my internet options are a poached signal from the wine bar or the library.... so, y'all probably won't hear from me until then.
8 comments:
I'm so sorry for your loss.
I am glad to hear your grandma is doing well and that you were able to be there for your family.
I'm so sorry about your grandfather. I am also glad your grandmother is doing so well.
I'm sorry, P., and I'll be thinking of you.
I'm sorry about your Grandpa. Glad you could stay. Thinking about you.
I'm very sorry to hear about your grandfather -- my condolences to you and your family.
My thoughts are with you and your family. Good call staying with them; hope you're as well as you all can be.
I'm sorry to hear about your loss.
Not, of course, that I know you or your family. But, I like to imagine that a person who has great things to say on her blog must have come from a great family. So, I'm sure your grandfather will be missed.
Oh, my. Ditto what everyone else said.
(((hugs)))
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