The Craziness Continues

Sheesh. I don't know where the days have gone. Let me catch you up.

On July 3rd Greg & I went to yet another funeral (if you are keeping track this makes 3 funerals I've gone to in less than two months), this one for his friend Tim's dad. Tim & Greg went to high school together and Greg practically lived at Tim's house during that time. Tim's parents were like second parents to him. So that was hard.

Back on my June 29th post I told you that my grandmother was diagnosed with terminal ovarian cancer. At that time her doctor suspected that she would have another 2-3 months to live. My grandmother chose not to have any surgery, chemo or anything and just wanted to be kept comfortable and to die at home when the time came. The doctor set her up with hospice care so that a nurse could come out and check on her and they would provide her with the equipment she needed and all that.

She was doing okay up until Saturday the 4th. Greg & I went over to see her on Saturday and she got up to see us and spent time talking with us. She got tired pretty quickly, but was bright and cheery. Even though Roger & Lorraine were supposed to come on Sunday, I had planned to spend the day at home catching up on the mountain of laundry I had. Mom called me on Sunday and said that Mama wasn't doing well and the hospice people thought she might have "minutes to hours" to live. Of course we jumped in the car and headed over. She was totally out of it, almost in a coma state. We kept her as comfortable as we could with morphine and another medicine to help keep the fluid from building up.

The whole family (mom, dad, Roger, Lorraine, Greg & I) and some close friends spent the next two days sitting with her. She would open her eyes occasionally, but there was really no one home. I don't know what you call the state she was in, but she was totally non-responsive. We made sure someone was with her all the time and played music for her and talked to her. The hospice chaplain came and talked to us and did some other (kinda weird) stuff. He was nice enough but a bit out there.

Tuesday she was back with us and lucid off and on during the day. She spoke to all of us and called us by name and most of the time could tell us if she was in pain or uncomfortable. Roger & Lorraine got to say goodbye to her before they left.

The next two days were repeats of Monday. She was unresponsive and struggling to breathe. My mom called me here at home around 4:00 on Friday morning and said that Mama died at 3:55 that morning.

I'm just stunned at how quickly this all happened. I was expecting to have all summer to see her and talk to her and two weeks after she was diagnosed she's gone. After the hospice nurse told us she had hours to live we tried to spend as much time with her as possible and also to give my parents a break since they were there 24-hours a day. It was hard having them say she just had hours to live and then for her to prove them wrong by living another 4 days.

So it's been an exhausting week. I'm sad that she's gone but at the same time can't help being relieved that she's not suffering any longer.

This is kind of a dumb post, sorry. I'm having trouble writing this for some reason. Anyway, that's what I've been doing. Tomorrow I will go back to work and try to get back on track.

Elizabeth Anne Pierce
August 25, 1917 - July 11, 2008
Rest in peace, Mama. We love you and will miss you.