Well this month has been on heck of a month.
My family started this month off with a vacation to Salt Lake City Utah. While there we went to the lake, missed the zoo which was a disappointment, But made up for it and went to the city center mall. Ate some steak at Sizzler witch was the best!! Had the most memorable view from our hotel room which was located in Park City Utah. On Thursday Russell, Lucy and me went to a concert. We saw Ozzy. Even though it was raining the entire time, and people were smoking pot in our section seeing the price of darkness was the best. It was amazing, to see him come on stage in his shinny purple robe and then just start belting out music like he was a young singer. He ruled that stage, then there was Zac Wilde who know how to play the guitar and he rocked the crowd. He walked through the isle. Zac was about 10 feet from us playing his guitar it was amazing, the best part of his solo was him playing his guitar with his teeth. We left the stadium and sat in the traffic line for a long long time, and then drove back to the hotel in a rain storm. That was one heck of a drive to remember. I told Russell never ever will we have our hotel half hour away from where we are doing an event... I was praying the entire way to the hotel, that was the only way to calm me down.
When we got home we were so sore that weekend we hardly did anything. Lucy walked in the parade with the Girl Scouts. The float won the second highest award The Mayors Award.
The following week me and grandma were on a mad dash to get her preoperative work done. This included an echocardiogram, pre-risk assessment appointment and the day before the surgery labs and ekg. We left for Spokane at 12:30 on Monday October the 15th, finished the last items we needed to in Spokane at their hospital. Navigating the maze of a hospital, the parking garage was a maze in itself. After getting out of the hospital we made it to our family's house. She was so gracious enough to invite us into her home for a few days and let us sleep in her grandsons room. It was so nice of her to help and save us a lot of money. Not only did she let us stay with her she helped talk to the doctors and get info for us when she was visiting my grandmother. She also got our family in Spokane to visit grandma so that she was not alone.
I wish the check in process was easy but it was not. we found out that because grandma took plavix 5 days before her surgery, it may effect the pain medication they want to put in her back, that is an epidural medication. So we had to make a hard decision that if we did the epidural medicin it could clot in her spine and bleed out and make complictions worse. The risk of that was a bit high, but grandma did not want to be in pain and wanted to take the risk. So i inforemed the family and they pushed her away. I was thankful there was a chaplin that came in before and prayed with us before the surgery, that ment a lot to my grandmother and me. We had a lot of people praying at home but to have people in the hospital pray made it even better. After they rolled her away I went and got my self Thomas Hammer coffee the best coffee in washington, and zips bugers! went back to my cousins place.
The day of the surgery after grandma was checked in I hung out with my cousin Sue. We had my phone handy for updates. All the updates we got every two hours were good. the first one was the cancer had not spread, second was she was doing well and was still in surgery, third was they were doing the dissection, and finally we got the doctor call and he said she did well got the cancer tumor and she was getting closed up. So myself and Leon were preparing to get hers stuff ready to bring to the hospital. We finally got to the hospital and called to check into the nurse, she said grandma has about half hour in recovery then she will be moved up the the 5th floor. Problem was her room needed to be cleaned and they explain that the hospital was full. We waited walked around went to the gift shop and got grandma an elephant. half hour passed and called again a different nurse explained it could be half hour to an hour... Told us the room was still needed to be cleaned and she needed an hour for a medication to work. she informed me that there was a cafeteria that while we were on the phone just closed, and then told me where the vending machine room was. Me and Leon went to the vending room got him cookies and a lunch able, I got a drink we sat ate and then went to the lobby and waited for the phone call. It was nearly a half hour just enough time for me to watch an episode of 'The Curious Creations of Christine McConnell' on Netflix. I took Leon up to the fifth floor we waited again because we beat the nurse there. Waited again outside the room then I asked if we could go in the room, I set up her room, put her bag in the closet, set out her robe, blanket, tooth brush and other items she may have needed.
Finally she showed up, I sat with her for a minute and then said good night and went back to Sues place.
I tell you all that because during the week the fifth floor nurses were giving me updates on grandma, since my name is on the file. The hospital mysteriously lost the advanced directive I had filled out that had myself and my fathers name on it, which makes it even more stressful as the week went on. Thursday I got a phone call from the nurse on the 5th floor, she told me grandma was getting transferred to the 9th floor due to a heart irregularity and they are able to monitor it better. During the weekend I never heard from the nurses on the 9th floor ever. I called Sunday to see how grandma is doing the nurse Jess at the Providence Sacred Heart refused to give me any information. I am on her file, and she told me that the 5th floor was going against protocol. I gave up trying to get information called grandma told her about it, she informed me that sue was with her when Dr Mejia was in the room and I can call her, and grandma told me about 10% of what Sue had told me, this is why I request to get information from nurses. Not because grandma cant its because she doesn't remember the medical lingo. I called the risk management at that hospital and have not heard one word from them.
Grandma Pat is home. She is living with me at my house right now. The only thing we are dealing with is getting some more of her creature comforts from her room at her sons house.
Signing off for now..
Laura the very tired caregiver of 2 children, a husband and now my grandmother!!
