Thank you for your prayers, well-wishes and kind thoughts throughout the week. Grandma slipped quietly away Wednesday evening.
Monday afternoon, the decision was made to keep Grandma on life support. She was still semi-conscious and indicated she didn't want to go yet.
Grandma's nurse had come in earlier in the afternoon, recommending some good hospice programs, and so while my wife's mother made phone calls to check on insurance coverage, I asked the doctors some pretty direct questions...
It was determined that moving Grandma to hospice care would deprive her of the breathing apparatus that was currently keeping her alive; that hospice was really only going to make her comfortable before she died. Because her single best chance for survival depended on a large, pimped-out CPAP machine, it was determined that Grandma would stay a little longer in the hospital. Watching her poor, frail body fight just to breathe, I didn't hold out much hope that she'd be with us much longer...
By Wednesday evening, Grandma slipped into a coma. Her brother from Arizona was able to make it to the hospital on time and say his goodbyes. By Thursday, her body had no strength left and began shutting down. She was gone by dinner time.
I think it was hardest for our oldest two children. They'd never experienced the death of someone close to them before. They've lost a great-grandmother, and have two more great-grandparents who are in their 80's, and who are extremely close to our kids. I do not look forward to the day that either of them passes...
Again, thank you all for your thoughts, prayers and kind words this week; they have been much appreciated.
Nilo
No comments:
Post a Comment