In the early hours of Sunday morning, my beautiful little 94 year old Grandmother ('Ninny' to my brother and I) took a fall getting out of bed. She broke her hip and was sent to hospital by the nursing home she lives in. She had had a type of stroke seven years ago, and her memory has been getting progressively worse, and now she is almost childlike.
She was in a lot of pain, but her stats were too low to risk operating on her until 8 o'clock that evening. They replaced the ball part of her hip joint, and got her back to the ward by 9pm.
We received a call to say that she wasn't doing well, and as she has a 'Do Not Resussitate' order lodged with her solicitor, we dashed straight up to the hospital, expecting the worst.
"She's a tough little lady isn't she" said the nurse who greeted us on arrival at the ward. I smiled, because yes she is. We stayed with her til midnight, watching her sleep, her blood pressure veering up and down wildly, but she was 'comfortable'.
Monday morning my brother rang to say she was really bad again, and she probably wouldn't be with us long. We tore straight up there, and found her sleeping peacefully, all her stats fairly stable again. We managed to feed her a little bit of lemon mousse for lunch and give her a few sips of water, but she was very confused and slept 99% of the day.
Tuesday she was showing signs that her heart and kidneys were failing.
Yesterday they decided to withdraw active treatments, and just make sure she's 'comfortable'. Her heart and kidneys are definately packing up and she has bad pneumonia too. My father (her son-in-law) is away on a cruise until tomorrow (my mother died 9 years ago), so my brother and I are making the best decisions we can for her in his absence. I hate to see her in this condition, but I can't let her be alone either. We're just waiting for her to pass away, and I pray that it will be peaceful for her.
Sorry to offload on you, but I know what a great group of people you are, and I hope you won't mind too much.
She was in a lot of pain, but her stats were too low to risk operating on her until 8 o'clock that evening. They replaced the ball part of her hip joint, and got her back to the ward by 9pm.
We received a call to say that she wasn't doing well, and as she has a 'Do Not Resussitate' order lodged with her solicitor, we dashed straight up to the hospital, expecting the worst.
"She's a tough little lady isn't she" said the nurse who greeted us on arrival at the ward. I smiled, because yes she is. We stayed with her til midnight, watching her sleep, her blood pressure veering up and down wildly, but she was 'comfortable'.
Monday morning my brother rang to say she was really bad again, and she probably wouldn't be with us long. We tore straight up there, and found her sleeping peacefully, all her stats fairly stable again. We managed to feed her a little bit of lemon mousse for lunch and give her a few sips of water, but she was very confused and slept 99% of the day.
Tuesday she was showing signs that her heart and kidneys were failing.
Yesterday they decided to withdraw active treatments, and just make sure she's 'comfortable'. Her heart and kidneys are definately packing up and she has bad pneumonia too. My father (her son-in-law) is away on a cruise until tomorrow (my mother died 9 years ago), so my brother and I are making the best decisions we can for her in his absence. I hate to see her in this condition, but I can't let her be alone either. We're just waiting for her to pass away, and I pray that it will be peaceful for her.
Sorry to offload on you, but I know what a great group of people you are, and I hope you won't mind too much.
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