Friday, December 30, 2011

An Update on Grandma

I sit here on my couch, with my dog beside me, Jay and Miles on the other couch, and my baby boy (yes, he's still my baby) sound asleep for over 1 hour already. Pretty much all I can think of is my Grandma lying in her hospital bed, with my Momsie and Uncle Steve close by. I wrote a post the other day asking for your prayers, and I thank you for the lovely comments and prayers. I have truly felt them. I asked my Mom if she thought it would be okay if I blogged about Grandma, so here it goes.

I was on my way to work and at 19:10 I saw my Mom was calling me. I didn't have my hands free set in, so I just let it go to voice mail. Once it was safe, I called my voice mail and it was a once sentence message: "Hi, it's Mom, call me back...it's important.". I immediately called her back and what I heard absolutely shook me to my core:
"Grandma had a stroke."
 I told Mom I had to pull over and call her back when it was safe. The tears started. The shock set in. I just can't believe it. I saw her 2 days ago on Christmas morning. Everything was fine. Now she's had a stroke? She can't talk? She can't move?

In the morning Grandma couldn't move her right wrist while doing laundry. It felt numb. She called the Health Link line and the nurse told her to go to ER. My Grandma's wonderfully amazing neighbour took Grandma to emerg. It must have been taking a long time, and my Grandma being impatient, decided to leave. On the way home, Grandma's neighbour asked her if she wanted to grab some lunch...to look over and see Grandma's face start to droop and she couldn't answer her questions. She turned right back around to the hospital, had a CT scan and was diagnosed with a left hemispheric ischemic stroke.

Effects of a left hemispheric stroke are:

  • Weakness or paralysis on the right side of your body. Trouble reading, talking, thinking or doing math.
  • Your behaviour may become more slow and cautious than usual.
  • You may have trouble learning or remembering new information.
  • You may need frequent instructions and feedback to finish tasks.
The bolded information is what Grandma is experiencing right now. That, along with pain to the affected (right) side and dysphagia (trouble swallowing). She also has had atrial fibrillation for years, which is my educated guess as to what caused her stroke. 

Many of you have asked me how she is doing, and I wish I could tell you. I can tell you what I see as a nurse, but I don't know how she is. Grandma is still compus mentis or "with it", if you will. She recognizes all of us and can still use the left side of her body. She gave my hand such nice, strong squeezes when I got there to see her. She can give a half smile and a silent chuckle too. Right now she is just so tired. Having a stroke is such a major event, such a stress on the body, that companied with the morphine for the pain in her right arm and chronic back pain also add to the sleepiness. Her doctor told us her brain is still swelling from the injury, so that can make her tired as well. The good news is, that she can swallow! That is huge news.

Now...we wait and see. There's no predicting what could happen, her prognosis, how long she will have. Days? Months? Years? Only God knows. I just ask that you continue to pray, please. For comfort and for peace. I just don't want my Grandma to suffer - physically or mentally.

My Grandma is so much more than "just" a Grandma to me. I've always had such a special bond with her, I'm her only granddaughter too. Grandma was a nurse and and I wanted to be just like Grandma when I grew up. She was a nurse, I am a nurse. She married a farmer, I married a farmer. I lived with her for 1 school year and the summer that I graduated. It is so hard for me to see such a strong, independent woman like her, in this condition. That being said, I cannot imagine how hard this must be for her.
Me & Grandma Throndson
I will continue to update on the blog and will be going up to see her by the end of next week. Thanks for your love, thoughts, prayers, concerns, and comments. 

I just donated $100 to the Heart & Stroke Foundation for their Year End campaign. I encourage you to donate as well if you can.

10 comments:

  1. I'm so sorry about your grandma and I will continue to pray for her. None of my grandparents have had strokes before but earlier this year when we were living with a friend and her grandma, aunt, and cousin, her grandma had 2 mini strokes and the hospital here misdiagnosed her the first time. It was terrible watching her suffer. She also bonded a lot with Tristan during that time because she could talk to him and it didn't matter to him if he couldn't understand her and she was so frustrated that we couldn't understand her. After having a few falls, she went to the hospital and then to physical rehab where we visited her and she's done really well. I know for her to was different since hers were mini strokes but I hope your grandma gets better and that you get more time with her. I know how I'd feel if it were my grandma (I've always been closer to her than anyone as well).

    ReplyDelete
  2. I am so sorry to hear this. I will continue to keep her in my thoughts and prayers.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Big hugs Sarah and tons of prayers still coming y'all's way!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thanks for the update, Sarah. My grandma had a stroke too, about a year and a half before she passed. I hope your grandma's stroke wasn't too severe. It's so hard, such a change. :(

    ReplyDelete
  5. I'm so sorry, sweetie. Praying for you & your family.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Awww, what a horrible thing to have to go through... I'm sorry you and your family are going through that right now, i will pray for your family and your sweet grandma! I hope it wasn't to bad and that she recovers well! <3

    ReplyDelete
  7. I am praying for you and your grandma. What a beautiful woman she is, I will pray for a full and complete recovery. Prayer is powerful!!

    ReplyDelete
  8. You, your grandma, and your whole family are in my thoughts and prayers. Hang in there.

    ReplyDelete
  9. I will continue to pray for you!! Many hugs!

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for taking the time to read this post and leave a comment! I reply to all my comments so come back and take a look or subscribe to responses!