Much like the temperatures over the last couple days and those forecasted for the weekend, the events of this week(end) are up and down. On the positive front, tomorrow is my last day at work. It'll be very nice to have a break for awhile from a routine (or rut, in this case). On the low side, my grandmother was taken to the hospital on Tues for symptoms which appear to have been a "mini-stroke". All seemed okay until today when a persisent stomach pain was worsened by incredibly low blood pressure. A cat scan (done today to investigate a possible aneurism area in the brain) revealed fresh blood in her abdomen. Two cups of blood turned into 2+ liters in a couple hours time by the time she was operated on.
I went to stay with my mom and a couple of her friends at Lehigh Valley Hospital tonight while word was waited on from the surgeon. Fortunately, the procedure didn't take as long as expected and we were briefed--one of mom-mom's arteries going to her liver had somehow ruptured and she had a large hematoma (sp?) between it and the stomach. The surgeon described how he had to physically move her stomach and whatnot around to find the leak. When it was discovered, he literally pinched it closed with his hand while it was sewn off. She had to be given 4 liters of blood after receiving 2 earlier in the day.
She's been through a lot already this week and she must rest up for more. They had to leave her "open" with packing for more surgery is required on Sunday. The liver appeared in good shape for now and hopefully another artery running to the liver will take over where the ruptured one failed. After that, we were told it will be a long recovery as mom-mom is weaned off the various machines she is now on. Perhaps the most amazing thing that happened tonight was that, although heavily sedated in an induced coma, she opened her eyes while the lot of us were speaking at the foot of her bed. The nurse said, "Oh my God, she opened her eyes!" There was no eye movement, but my mom is sure she heard us. As you can imagine, the whole thing was very emotional. But I have faith that she'll eventually get home because the area # she is in matches out house number--260! I'll take that as a sign from above.
5 comments:
Sorry about your grandmother, hope she gets well with no complications. Enjoy your vacation between jobs and take advantage of the free time. Any idea what the next career may be?
There was a shakeup last night (see next blog entry) but things look good as of this writing. Thanks for your thoughts, Troy.
Oh, as for the next career, see my newest entry.
Oof. Sorry to hear about this - here's hoping your grandmother pulls through without any further issues or complications.
And good luck as you switch careers - I've done it a couple of times, and it's rarely fun. But it's always been an improvement, and I hope it will be for you as well.
Thanks, Mike. My grandmother is doing much better than before. As for the job switch, well, I'm going on a practice run with a prospective employer (route gourmet food delivery/sales) Thurs. so we'll see what comes from that.
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