Thursday, September 27, 2007

Update on my Grandmother as of Thursday

Yesterday was a better day for my grandmother than Tuesday was. Honestly, on Tuesday, people would say that they hoped that she would get better and all I could do was think ok, fat chance. Yesterday gave us a little more hope.
They did manage to get the NG tube placed and we are now all watching to see if the nutrition that she is getting helps. If not, then this will be the deciding factor for us to make the hospice phone call. We are all hoping that her digestive system will be working well and will respond well to this new addition.
They did also decide to move her out of ICU and into a private room on the floor. My mom and grandfather were not too sure that this was a good move, but I figure that she just doesn't need that level of care anymore. I choose to view it as a positive step in the right direction. The other good thing about this is that it will allow us to accept help from my grandparents extensive list of friends. ICU is so very restrictive about who and when people can come in that all the people that they have known for years and people they go to church with are wanting to help and haven't been able to. Now we can give them something to do.
The only negative thing that came up was that she has developed a little bit of pneumonia in the left lower lobe of her lung. Again, with a woman who has extensive lung disease and has smoked most of her life, I was surprised that it didn't show up before now. She is now coughing, which is something that she was not doing in ICU, so that shows signs of responsiveness. She also has her eyes open as well. I was not at the hospital today, but I can only imagine that she is probably trying to talk too.
Please continue to pray for not only her health but also the health of our family. We are a small family and we are all trying to share the time at the hospital but it is very exhausting for all involved. Please also remember my grandfather through all of this. While he is relatively healthy, physically, he has a tendancy to be so negative about situations (large or small) that it directly affects his own health. We are trying everything to keep him eating and he has been staying with my parents, so we know that he is sleeping a bit too.
Also, I am praying that this whole situation will be a wake up call for some of the members of our family who have strayed from Him.
Thank you for all your prayers and I'll update as soon as I know anything different.

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