My grandma a/k/a Grandma Great had been doing so well in the nursing home. We were coming up on a year without a major incident. She seems to have set a pattern that we need to break. First she broke/shattered her leg in January of 2009; then in 2010, she broke her hip; in 2011 she developed a strange condition with the twisting and co-mingling of her stomach and esophagus, which resulted in her moving into the nursing home...it's now 2012 and because she's going for some sort of record...
Last week, Grandma took a tumble as she was coming out of her bathroom. She had made great strides the past few months of getting strong enough to walk to and from the bathroom with her walker, she had even gotten to where she could walk all the way to the dining room with her walker, although she realized it wiped her out if she did it too much. I was proud of her for sticking with it though. It leaves her with a little bit of independence. As of late, she had started pushing the wheels of her wheelchair to make it go, and I was thrilled with that because she is certainly able and should be pushing herself around when she can.
When I first saw Grandma after she fell, it had been about four hours. I had been told she had started to bruise almost immediately. I must say that I was taken aback when I saw her face, her eye was completely swollen shut and her face was already a nasty purple. I was not prepared for that at all. Lane was with me and refused to look at her, said it was too awful. She seemed fine though, but she was tired and I told her I would see her the next day on my lunch hour. I talked to the nurses on the way out and they reiterated what my parents had told me, no broken bones, but she will be very sore.
The next day at lunch, I decided I would go see her first and then go for my lunch hour walk. I assumed she would be lying in her chair or bed and not in the mood for chit-chat so it would be quick. I walked into her room and was surprised to see that she was MIA. Apparently she had decided to go to the dining room for lunch. I couldn't believe it. Okay, this was a good sign. I get down to the dining room and immediately notice the back of her head...her hair has been fixed. It was Wednesday, hair day. She had kept her appointment at the beauty shop. Of course, she had. Her eye was much better, the swelling was down. She was still sore, complaining of her chest hurting and told me a couple times, she thought she had possibly broken some ribs and mentioned that she must have pulled a muscle or something in her hip/thigh area because it was so sore. No doubt she would be sore and bruised.
Finally on Friday, she was taken to the doctor and it was quickly discovered that something was not right. She was transported to the ER and they did find that she had two broken ribs and a broken or cracked pelvis. Her brain scan was good and so were her hips. Thank you, Lord. She takes a blood thinner which caused her to bleed a lot under the skin (I think) and made her black and blue just about everywhere. Poor thing. She is not a big complainer, but you could tell she hurt all over.
The night she was admitted, I snuck up to see her. It was really late and I knew she would be asleep, but she has told me countless times to never, ever be afraid to wake her, she can sleep anytime. So I didn't hesitate for more than a second before grabbing her hand. She started talking immediately (no surprise, right) and although her teeth weren't in, which is always a little scary, and she was groggy, I could make out her requests. She spouted off about five things she needed immediately, one and two being a hairbrush and her bright red lipstick, the new tube I had just bought her. I had to giggle. Maybe she thought the fire-engine-red lipstick would detract from the blue and purple bruising all over her face.
It took me back to her first fall in 2009, when even as they were wheeling her out of her room for surgery, she was applying blush and lipstick with a small mirror in her hand. They told her they would just have to wash it off before surgery and she told them she didn't care, she wanted to look good going in. I guess we have to work with what we've got, huh?
I went to see her again last night and she is just pitiful lying there. She had me put her shoes on her feet because she says it's more comfortable. My guess is the nurses will be quite surprised when they pull the sheets off of her and see her tennis shoes. She told me she went round and round with one of the nurses the night before about a pillow. I know that the nurses are doing what they're trained and told, but grandma isn't one for backing down. She tells me in the end, she won that fight and got her pillow where she wanted it.
This gal has got spunk, and she's a tough one even at 93.5 years of age. I'm praying that she'll recover from this fall too, just like she has before, and in time get back to her normal. I know that her body has to be getting tired, and every time I prepare myself for the end, she perks back up. Thy will be done. Say a prayer for Grandma Great today if you would, please, and you might say one for her nurses too!
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