Nuclear test

The last few days have been hectic to say the least. Most of it bad, but not all. Here I shall write about the bad stuff.

Thursday I got a call from Gram. Sort of. She called, but didn’t realize I’d picked up. I could hear her talking to a nurse in the background saying her phone wasn’t working and asking the nurse to call me. Nurse asking for my number. Gram not knowing. I hung up and called Gram thinking the nurse would hear the ring and show her how to answer, but I got voice mail. While I called, the nurse called me and I still haven’t figured out how to switch calls on call waiting, so that went to voice mail. But at least now I knew what hospital.

Gramps was feeling pressure in his chest and short of breath. So he called 911 and went to the ER. They don’t know what’s wrong exactly, though whatever it is isn’t as bad as the heart attacks and blod clot he had in December/January. He’s definitely weaker than he was a couple of weeks ago. And he definitely had more fluid than he should around his heart. They upped his dosage of ferosimide (I probably misspelled that) to get him to piss away the fluid. He’s lost about 7.5 pounds in 4 days, with no bowel movements (which is beginning to be an issue).

Tomorrow morning they’ll put some nuclear material in him and watch it go through his heart on a machine. I don’t know if they’ll send him home afterward, or if they’ll be keeping him.

Meanwhile, I’ve been driving Gram there to visit every day, and spending a fair amount of time with her outside the hospital. Her dementia has been pretty bad, and Gramps didn’t want her to be alone for too long. He’s said they need to hire help, and I think he means it this time. He’s withered in the face of Gram’s opposition before. We even had a conversation with Gram, and she seemed more resigned in her opposition than obstinate. It’s a good, albeit minor, sign as far as I am concerned.

My aunt Gail arrived today to help out watching Gram. One of the things she wants to do is go look at assisted living places with me. We’re hoping that Gramps’ doctors insist on something like that. Both Gram and Gramps need it.

Me, I’m a ball of stress. I’ve gotten very little sleep. But I’ve also taken some time for myself as well. Unfortunately, that cut into my sleep, but it was worth it.

I haven’t forgotten the Walk to Defeat A.L.S. I have half an article on drugs written up, and hopefully I’ll get time to finish it within the next few days. In the meantime, my Walk to Defeat A.L.S. page is still up, and still taking donations.

Blood clot in the leg

If my experience with psychosis wasn’t enough, today I also got some bad news about my grandparents. They returned last night from a Caribbean cruise.

My grandmother informed me that Gramps had some sort of heart issue on the plane trip returning to Seattle. The flight crew gave him oxygen, which s

Well, as I typed out this entry I got a phone call from my grandmother to tell me the paramedics were at their condo and Gramps was going to the E.R. He complained of shortness of breath. I called my brother immediately because last time he got mad I didn’t call right away. Then both of us headed to Providence hospital which is where he was to be taken.

All of us waited at the hospital for hours. Though quiet when I arrived, shortly after A.M.R. brought Gramps in, the E.R. got slammed with only one doctor on duty. Somewhere around 5 a.m. though they determined that Gramps had a blood clot in his leg. They though a small piece of it might have traveled to his lungs, causing shortness of breath both on the flight from Cabo to Seattle as well as Sunday night.

Due to his advanced age and multiple heart medications, they decided to admit my grandfather. He’s been at Providence since. It’s possible he will go home tomorrow. However, he will be using a walker from now on.

I’m glad he’s recovering. The event is accelerating some of my plans and changing others, but I’ll detail that later. I’ll be spending more time helping them though, and it’s caused me to be even more blunt with them about some changes they need to make.