Granny

Seven years ago I met the woman that loves my husband as much as I do. A woman that would do anything for him without a second thought. This woman was Mike's Granny. She accepted me into the family immediately, and soon she was not only Mike's Granny, but my Granny too. We talked at least once a week and if that week went by she would call and leave a message just to check on us. Mike or I would call her back and she would always tell us to come up and of course we would as soon as we could. She always called Mike Miiiiichael...with a drawn out "i". And would always say "thank ya darling" when I would do something.

On April 28th, Granny woke up with terrible back and leg pain. (I am going to go into as much detail as possible so I can remember) Brenda her niece took her over to Fayetteville to her doctors office to see the PA. The PA looked at Granny's history and immediately told her that she was obviously having some pain she had had in previous years and sent her home with some pain relievers. That night Brenda called us to tell us she had taken Granny and that Granny was in some intense pain. I remember Mike coming outside and telling me I needed to call Granny. I immediately came inside and called her and she told me the problem and told me she did not like the PA and felt like she blew off how intense her pain was and she thought it was odd that they did not give her an exam and she even made a comment about what if it was a problem with her kidneys.

Friday morning the 30th, Mike and his Dad took Granny back over to her doctor to get some answers because her pain was no better. This time instead of seeing the PA they actually saw the doctor. The doctor did no blood work and really just took the PA's word that it was a pinched nerve or some spinal flare up. He sent Granny home with a muscle relaxer and pain pills.

Saturday morning Mike took Granny breakfast and Braelyn and I came over soon after. Her coloring did not look very good but was tolerating the pain better. We left around noon and soon after Mike's Dad brought her lunch and later decided he should stay the night with her. Around 4:30am Sunday morning we got a call from Tommy (Mike's Dad) saying that the ambulance was there taking Granny to the hospital and that she was throwing up blood. I hurried to call my Mom to come stay with Brae while Mike and I headed to the hospital. When I walked in the ER, Granny looked so bad her skin color was whitish gray. It really took me back seeing her in that bad of shape. They ran a bunch of test and came to the realization that Granny's blood was WAY to thin. To thin to even count so they decided to give her 4 units of blood and blood plasma. I stayed until she was transferred to ICU and Mike stayed until late Sunday night. The next morning (Monday) she was moved from ICU into a regular room. After I dropped off Braelyn I went up there to see her and she was doing much better. A little weak but most definitely better. Over the next few days Granny had a scope and a colonoscopy to see if there was any damage done from the bleeding. None was done and she was eating and getting up on her own so she was sent home late Friday night, May 7th with a home health nurse and a prescription for some intense physical therapy for her leg and back.

Over the weekend, Granny was recuperating at home great and Little Ace (her dog) was so so happy she was home. Monday night after work Mom and I headed to Griffin for supper and stopped by  to check on her. She fed Braelyn some graham crackers and Braelyn fed Little Ace some graham crackers. When Mom and I left she commented to me on Granny's color. We both agreed that she did look a tad bit yellow. When I got home I was sure to tell Mike and he called Granny and called his Dad. The next day they asked the home health care nurse about her color and she seemed to think it was ok. Unfortunately, I did not insist that she go to the doctor, but hindsight is 20/20, but something in my gut told me something wasn't right. We continued to check on her through the week and on Thursday Granny went out to get her hair and nails done with Brenda. She didn't let us know she was going and Tommy and Mike had a fit when they called during the day and she didn't answer. I finally got in touch with her and she told me of her fabulous morning and told me to please call her boys to tell them she was fine. Goodness, I can still hear her now.

Friday May 14th, Tommy called me mid day to tell me that Brenda was taking Granny to the doctor because she was REALLY yellow. A couple of hours later he called back to tell me that the doctor wanted to admit Granny back into the hospital. Mike was in the middle of pressure-washing the building where I work so I decided that I would go to the hospital until he could make it up there. Sure enough when I got there she was glowing. She was in a great mood though and everybody recognized her from her previous stay. Over the next couple of days they ran some test, but nothing seemed to happen quick enough for us. We were not getting answers and that worried us. By Monday afternoon we knew something whether it be a stone or a mass was blocking her bile duct. The Griffin doctors quickly referred her to Emory, but it still took until Wednesday afternoon to get her transferred. When she got to Emory her blood pressure was really high so they decided not to do any test until Thursday. I followed Tommy up to Emory early Thursday morning. Granny was in a lot of pain and winced in pain when someone slightly touched her abdomen. She napped a lot and talked in her sleep. A couple of times she said she had her glasses and even asked us about them. She also said something about a phone book. Tommy and I did a lot of sitting and waiting. There was a lot of doctors and nurses that came in. First a resident doctor, then a PA, then a doctor, then the head honcho doctor. I was very pleased to see all the all the attention and after lunch they told us she probably would not have to ERCP scope until Friday morning. Little did I know they were worried about her urine output which was 0 all day on Thursday. I left Emory around 2:30pm on Thursday to be able to get home to pick home Braelyn.

This next part starts the nightmare, the complete blur of time, and what was one of the most difficult time of my life.
Around 5:30, I got a call from Mike frantically saying they were moving Granny to ICU because her she was in liver failure. I told him he needed to leave work immediately to head to Emory. I couldn't go because Braelyn was at home with me, my Mom was out of town, and I was completely FREAKING OUT. After getting lost, I finally navigated Mike to the hospital and I was in complete panic mode. I was trying to keep it together for him, but I knew this was not good, not good at all. I was here and Mike was there and I was shaking because I was worried sick. It was like my mind was going 90 to nothing but I could not focus. Time just passed by and somehow I got Brae fed, bathed, and in bed. Right after that I called Mike and he told me he would call me back. Minutes of waiting turned into an hour and needless to say I had cleaned the house from top to bottom with all my nervous energy. After an hour, Margaret, Tommy's wife called wanting to know if I had heard anything, of course I hadn't, and honestly I was just sick with fear. FINALLY, Mike called, he said that Granny was doing a tad better and that at that point that was good. He had had a breakdown and just needed some time to process everything. I tried to sleep knowing that the next day would be long, but I couldn't. I just wanted to get to Mike and Granny.

The next morning (Friday the 21st) I picked up Margaret and dropped on Braelyn at Weezie's and headed to Emory. By the time we got there she was incubated meaning she had a ventilator to help her breathe. They told Mike and Tommy that this was to help her during the now VERY risky procedures.  The hours seemed to fly by. I don't know why but they did. I went on mission find Tommy's sister's (Sudi) phone number because I knew she needed to know and Tommy and Mike agreed. After looking all over the Internet and not getting anywhere, I found out they had Granny's little red address book, so I decided to look in there. I saw that she had her cell phone number so I decided to give it a go. I was SO nervous to call. I am not going to lie....I was scared to death cause I didn't know what to expect. I was so happy to find Sudi on the other end of the phone and I could tell that my phone call had caught her off guard. I told her I would keep in touch and she said she would do the same. Over the next few hours Granny went through the ERCP scope which at that point was REALLY risky with an over 50% chance she would not make it through. We were so happy when she made it through and I was sure to let Sudi know. Margaret and I left the hospital a little later.

The next morning Mom went with me to take Braelyn to see Granny. We felt that it was important for Granny to know she was there. On our way, Sudi called to check in and I think I told her Granny was holding in there. We got there and Mike was so happy to see his little girl. We went in to visit Granny but she was pretty doped up on pain medicine. Right before we left Granny woke up and Braelyn was able to see her. Granny most definitely knew she was there and she was trying to lift her arms to hold Braelyn she was also trying to talk. It was beautiful and heart-breaking at the same time. We left to make it to Braelyn's little cousins 1st birthday party at the farm. Mike and his Dad talked a lot and prayed a lot throughout the day. Later that night Mike and I had a long conversation and talked Sudi. He thought I should ask her to come and I was again scared to death to ask her. I worked up some nerve and dialed her number. Her husband Nolan answered and I talked to him. Again my voice shaking and I was pretty sure I sounded like a scared idiot, but I said what came from the heart I knew I  couldn't go wrong doing that. Our conversation was great and I felt hopeful that my phone call had gone good. I was exhausted and I slept so good.

The next day (Sunday the 23rd) I heard from Mike and Granny was holding on. Nothing seemed to be happening and we still did not know what the obstruction was in her bile duct. She was not stable enough to do anything that was not an emergency. Sudi also called to let me know they were on there way to Emory and would be there mid afternoon. I stayed at home Sunday morning to spend some time with Braelyn and attend my cousin's baby shower. I left around 3:30 to go get Granny's best friend Margie and Margaret to head to the hospital. When I got there Granny was the same and I got to meet Sudi and her husband Nolan. We let Margie spend some time with Granny and I took Mike and his Dad to eat at Long Horn's. They needed to get out of the hospital and I was happy to get them out for a hour or so. When I got back we left to come back home.

I was planning on going to work Monday, but really my heart or mind was not there. I was more than eager to head up to the hospital when Mike needed some medical papers Granny had her lawyer to draw up a couple of months ago. Some tough decisions needed to be made. Granny had no desire to suffer and we all knew she was. She was so so very weak and her heart rate was all over the place. I got to the hospital around lunch and met Mike's cousin Ceana. Over the next few hours, we all talked, cried, prayed, bonded. I was a nervous wreck and my stomach was in knots and very upset. I couldn't think about eating and just wanted everything to be ok and it just wasn't going to be. Later that day we all decided that Granny would go for a final MRI to tell what the mass was and that first thing Tuesday morning we would take her off the ventilator. I left the hospital to go home when she was having the MRI.

I was almost asleep when Mike called telling me that the doctor had read the MRI and that Granny had cancer cutting off the two main blood vessels in her stomach. This was terminal and there was nothing we could do except make her comfortable. Something amazing happened to Mike and his dad and I will blog about that soon. He was distraught though and I again felt helpless that I was not there. I felt so torn about being at the hospital and being at home with Braelyn. I rocked Braelyn for a long time that night while she slept and I finally fell fast asleep. I was up bright and early to leave to go back to Emory Tuesday morning. Mom got to my house to take care of Brae around 5 and I got to Emory around 6:30am. Soon it was time to take the ventilator out. Mike and I asked my Mom to bring Braelyn up one last time. I knew in my heart that it would not be long. The doctor seemed pretty confident that she would not pass away that day so after Braelyn got there and had a short visit, I decided to leave to go home to spend some much needed time with Braelyn not to even mention that my stomach was still very upset and the only thing to make it better was to leave the hospital. I was home for an hour and got a call from Mike saying Granny was not doing well at all and that maybe needed to come back. I was freaking out cause I just got home and I was more than tired, so I called Sudi and she said that yes, I needed to come. I threw on some comfy clothes because I was not leaving the hospital again. I was very emotional and felt like everytime I left something bad happened. I rushed as fast as I could and stayed with the family around her bed. At this point my stomach was beyond repair. We went to eat before the cafeteria closed for the night and I tried to eat a but I couldn't. When we got back Granny was still holding on and I knew I needed something...ANYTHING to calm my stomach. By this time I was pissed at my nerves and just wanted relief. Sudi offered to go with me out to their car to see if they had anything for me to take. They didn't so we headed two blocks down the street to the CVS to get some medicine. I was checking out and we got a phone call saying we needed to come now. I was SO scared we would not make it back in time but we did. Granny passed away peacefully with all her family surrounding her.

I am so very proud of my husband. He never left his Granny's side and that speaks volumes on the kind of man he is. I am a very lucky woman. Granny will be greatly missed. Her funeral was Friday and the days seem like they are just passing by. I want to go into more detail about meeting Sudi, her husband, and children, but that will have to wait until next time....it deserves a post in itself. I know there is probably a lot I left out and I might add as I remember. Thank you for reading.