Just a VERY quick note. I have not updated because we had an emergency. My grandmother visiting from Puerto Rico was hospitalized Saturday early a.m. (3 a.m.) after our having to call 911 from my house. We're all STILL exhausted and she's still in the hospital.
UPDATE:
It's 11:23 p.m. as I start typing on Sunday night.
My sister Brenda and her son Jonathan were driving up Friday to bring my grandparents for a visit. My grandparents are visiting from Puerto Rico & have been in Florida for a little over a week. They were supposed to come up Thursday night, I was going to take all Friday off work to spend the day with them, hanging out. Then, on Saturday, I was to drive them to Tampa for a birthday party, where my dad would be. He would then take them to his house for a few days.
Plans got changed a bit due to their not being back from visiting my aunt in Miami until Thursday. I went to work on Friday and left at noon. I drove home and they arrived shortly thereafter. The grandparents were tired!! The had just driven from Miami to West Palm the day before, and now drove 3 hours up to my house. That may not seem like a lot to you, but for two 83-year-old people, it's exhausting.
My grandma is this little short lady who can't hear well. She walks really slow and is always laughing. She hugs me and says "My Negrita! (dark girl), you look good. You're fat." *sigh* Yep. I'm fat. Later, my sister Brenda, who had not heard my grandma's comment, came up to me and told me I looked good. I pouted and said that Grandma said I was fat. Brenda starts cracking up and said, "Listen to what she told me. She said 'Brenda! You're so fat!! No wonder your husband bought that new trailer out front. So he can haul your big butt in it'." Brenda proceeds to crack up and told me not to feel bad. Everyone's fat.
I cooked dinner for all of us (my sister Brenda & nephew were spending the night as well) and we all relaxed and hung out. Grandpa asked Brenda to send his daughter (our aunt) a "computer telegraph." Hee hee. An e-mail. He doesn't know what it's called. He was very adament that Brenda send the telegraph now! because Aunt Carmen was leaving the office soon. Brenda tried to explain (again) that e-mails don't go anywhere, and Aunt Carmen can check them from home or work anytime. But he insisted, so Brenda sent the computer telegraph.
Grandma wanted to visit her grandkids (7 of us) and her great-grandkids (5). She just decided out of the blue 3 weeks ago, so they came. That day, Friday, Grandma did not make it upstairs until it was time for bed. She's had fluid in her left lung for at least 2 months now. The medical system in Puerto Rico is horrible. They've asked for the lung to be drained, but they said no, not until we run a CT scan. They went for a CT scan and have been awaiting the results....for 4 weeks. Four weeks of being out of breath and tired. They call & no one will tell them anything.
David & I gave my grandparents our bedroom. The guest room right now consists of a mattress on the floor, and there's no way they are getting up & down off the floor. J's bed is WAY too high for grandma to get on. Even my bed was a little difficult for her. She showered and Brenda helped her to bed. Last I remember, the boys, J & Jonathan, were playing DDR, Brenda was on the computer, and the grandparents were in bed as was Mrs. Squeaklefritz, who happilly went to bed at 8:30 p.m. after being serenaded by her great-grandpa playing guitar. I went to sleep in the guest room at around midnight.
At 2:00 a.m., Brenda wakes me to say that we need to take my grandma to the hospital. She was downstairs (?) and was having chest & back pain. Her face hurt too. It was not a stroke though; she was speaking clearly and had full motor function on both sides (Yay, CPR/First Aid Class). Also, Brenda's been studying for...6 months (?) for Medical Assistant and starts her externship on Monday. I head downstairs and grandma's on the couch. Her heart was beating erratically, her pulse was through the roof, and she said her chest hurt. I call David to see where he was - I did not want to leave the kids alone. He said he was just pulling in the driveway. I called 911 and proceeded to give them the wrong street - I told them we lived on "Avenue" rather than "Drive." David heard me & corrected me. I was nervous. As I'm calling 911, Grandma throws up. Brenda's tending to her and I'm running upstairs to get dressed. The Fire/Rescue team arrived first, in 5 minutes. Very nicely done Oh County of Mine. They were followed by the EMT's about 4 minutes after they arrived. The EMT's put her on a gurney and we (Brenda, Gramps and I) followed them to the Hospital. Florida Hospital Fish Memorial is about 9 miles away from my house in Orange City. They admitted her to the ER. I sat in the empty waiting room while Grandpa, with Brenda translating and helping calm him, went to give them her information. Grandpa was nervous and when he gets nervous he ... overreacts? No, that's not what I am trying to say. He gives too much detail, too much information that boggs things down. Brenda & I were trying to be quick & concise back at the house so we can get her the heck out of the house and to the hospital. They would ask a question about her medical history. No one knows her better than grandpa, but he would want to go into everything that happened with her, when all that was required was a "yes" or "no." Poor guy, I can't blame him, but we just wanted to hurry up. They asked what kind of medication she was on and he pulls out this HUGE make-up style bag FULL of medicine. Everything from stool softener, heartburn medicine, aspirin, to the real meds. Way too many. I tried looking through it briefly, but had no clue and just handed the huge bag to one of the EMT's, after removing the stool softener. :)
So, back to the hospital. We got there at 3 a.m. At 5 a.m. Brenda came out & told me to take gramps home for a nap and breakfast and then come back. She would stay with grandma. We came home at 5:15-5:20 and slept until 8:30 a.m., when Isabel woke me up. Breakfast made, kids fed, I woke David up at 10:30-ish to tell him we were leaving soon, as visiting hours started at 11:00 a.m. Brenda had since called to tell us that grandma was stabilized and in a room. We left at 10:45 and were in the hospital room from 11:15 or so until 7:30 p.m. MAN, hospitals are draining.
It's 11:59 on Sunday and I am SO tired. There's more to tell, but it'll have to wait. I am taking off tomorrow from work to take care of grandma at the hospital.
(Helpless, Buffy Season 3, Episode 12)
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