Going Home!

Well, I'm leaving for home in about 45 min.! It's always bittersweet leaving but knowing that I get to see Michael and the boys this afternoon makes me so very, very happy. Grandma seems to be doing well: she had her first in-house physical therapy session yesterday where she had to walk and the caregiver also checked how strong her resistance is (i.e. having Gma push and pull on her, etc.); when she found out Gma's age, she was very pleased with the results! Grandma has to remember to walk every hour, at least for a little bit, so I'm going to try and call her to remind her to do that when I can. Like I said before, I'm SO glad that I came here. What with everyone else's lives going crazy, sometimes I was the only one who was free to spend time with her and I'd much rather her have someone to talk to instead of watching tv all day. Everyone keeps thanking me for coming and, honestly, it's a little embarassing. I mean, who wouldn't come knowing that their grandma was sick? I'm just fortunate that I had the employment and financial abilities to do so. So anyway, I'll try to keep blogging about how Grandma is doing but it might be a little while. Just say some prayers that she gets stronger and stronger each day, without overdoing it. Love to all and many, many thanks.

More Grandma Stuff

Grandma's home!!! Grandma was discharged today from St. John's and she'll be staying with my parents for probably a month or so. The stent surgery and recovery went well and she'll be having physical therapy 3 times a week for her to get stronger. We met a whole slew of people today (I was there for about 7 hours today) and got tons of information, it's just going take a while to process. The home health caregiver (i.e. physical therapist) will be coming for the first time on Sat., so I'm going to stay at least until then to help out wherever I can. I still don't have a place to sleep right now--hopefully we'll figure out something pretty soon! Later taters!

Update on Grandma

Well, after I got done with work last night (at the lovely hour of 8pm, nothing to do with my amazing coworkers, don't worry!), I talked to my mom who told me that grandma was going to be getting a cardiac cath done today (which is where they put something up through the leg, to the heart to see how much blockage there is). If there was only a little blockage, there were going to do either an angioplasty (balloon) or stent (to hold the vein/artery open and widen it, from what I understand) (I think I blogged about this before--and if I did, sorry for repeating myself) and if there was too much blockage, they wouldn't be able to do anything and grandma would basically be a walking time bomb b/c they wouldn't be able to do another bypass due to her age. So, after I cried (again), I bought a ticket and wonderful Michael and I left for the airport at 4:50am. I got in around 8am, dad picked me up, and we were in the hospital room by about 8:45am.

Grandma was SO surprised to see me (they didn't tell her I was coming in so she worry about that--she always worries when I fly) and she actually said, and I quote, "If I had known you were coming I would have baked a cake!" That's my grandma for you!!! I laughed so hard and it was nice to be happy again. I'm really glad I came up here, it's been good for my heart and soul just to be with everybody and not worry (so much that I wasn't eating) about the phone ringing with bad news and to be able to see grandma face to face has really put my mind at ease, at least a little. Grandma and I got to talk for a while (about 2 hours) before they took her to get her cardiac cath done and when she came back, they said they had put 2 stents in already too (vein and main artery)! We were so happy b/c if something had to be done, we had been hoping that it would be a stent and not an angioplasty, since that's supposed to be better.

Now grandma has to rest for a while and needs peace and quiet while she's recovering. This is a critical time for her so most of us left the hospital, except for Mom and Uncle John. We'll probably go up again tonight to see her. I still don't know how long I'm going to be here--I bought a one way ticket since I was (and still am) unsure of the prognosis. Grandma will be staying at my parents' house when she's released which means I should leave shortly after that since we're running out of beds! (This is also due to the fact that both Joe and his girlfriend, Rose, are here right now--she's sweet, I've never met her before--taking up 2 of the 5 beds available). That's where I am right now. Please say some more prayers that grandma stays healthy and recovers well--prayers really do work! Later!

Say Some Prayers

My grandma (mom's mom) was taken to the cardiac ICU last night: she'd been feeling very, very weak and no wonder, her pulse was at 38! (I don't know what a normal pulse is supposed to be but I'm sure it's higher than that!!) Apparently, her atrium and her ventricles weren't "talking" to each other so her heart was beating all out of whack. She had surgery this morning and they put a pacemaker in her--so far, so good. The scary part is in the next day or so: tomorrow they're going to do a chemical stress test where they'll see if anything in her heart is blocked. If it is, she'll probably have to go through another bypass (like she did about 15 years ago) or angioplasty or they'll have to insert a stint. None of these are good options because her body probably won't be able to handle it (she is turning 90 this year!) and there's a good chance she won't make it. And if one of these options has to happen, we'll probably fly to StL immediately to be with my family. So please say some prayers that tomorrow will go well and she'll be able to go home soon. My grandma's had a good, long life but I'd hate to lose her in a hospital room. Grandma, you're an amazing, good woman and I love you. We all love you.

On another note, today's our 1 year anniversary of living in Dallas--I can't believe it, this year has flown by and we love Dallas (so much better than Austin!). Whoopee.

Dog Park Time!

Well, the dog park finally dried out enough for us to take the boys! I was a bit apprehensive since Max is a little unpredictable sometimes but we were that at 9am before a whole lot of people got there (and before it got too hot though I was sweating after about 45 min. in the sun) and we walked him around on his leash for a few minutes before we released the hounds! Max LOVED it!!! He was whining and yipping when we first got there but I think as soon as he saw that Sam was fine then he was fine too! It was actually pretty sweet because he followed Sam around for about 10 min. or so and then he realized he could play on his own with the other dogs!! He ran around and then bounded back to us, all the while being very sweet to the other dogs. What a good boy!!! We did have to leave because the boys were getting overheated (thank goodness they're getting groomed next week!) but we'll be back!

God is Good

So, I just got this email a few minutes ago from my younger brother, Joe. Praise God, He is truly good! Calls can't get through right now but hopefully I'll be able to make contact sometime tonight.

Hi everyone, I don't know if you have heard yet, but one of the major bridges that crossesthe Mississippi in Minneapolis collapsed into the river earlier this evening. This bridge is the route which connects the University of Minnesota to downtownMinneapolis. For the summer, I have been living in an apartment at theUniversity, and I take this bridge to and from work every single day. I amjust writing to let you know, that I am ok and all my friends and co-workers(thus far) are ok too. Coincidentally, I was pretty tired at work today anddecided to leave a little early. I crossed the bridge about 45 minutes beforethe accident. If I had left when I usually call it a day I would have been onthe bridge right around the time of the accident. God truly works inmysterious ways. I hope that everyone is doing well and enjoying the summer months. Please keepthe people of Minneapolis and their families in your thoughts and prayers. with love,Joe