< |04.21.09 @ 11:48 pm| >
It has been one month since I talked to my grandma while she was in the hospital after her last hip surgery. My mother has sent my sister and I a picture message with her sitting in this huge chair in her hospital room.
I called my grandma that night and talked to her for a little bit, she was to the point where she got frustrated easily because after her first stroke she had trouble communicating. Grandma ended up hanging up on me because she needed to just shut up.
Some time after I had talked to grandma my parent's went back up to the hospital to take my papa back home for the night. Grandma was so worked up about the chair that she had my mom take another picture of her in the chair, this time with my papa.
On April 3, 2009 my mom sent a text message saying that my grandma had had another stroke and it had damaged the part of her brain that regulated her breathing. They weren't certain that she would last through the night.
My sister and I threw some things together and left Grand Forks at 10pm. Stopping only for gas, potty breaks and breakfast in Billings, MT we pulled into Lander at noon the 4th.
It broke my heart seeing my grandma in that hospital bed. It hurt even more to see my papa hurting so much. Everytime he had to say goodbye it got harder to watch.
The afternoon of the 5th we brought grandma home so that she wouldn't pass in the hospital. We spent the next day sitting with grandma, holding her hand, and talking to her.
I was sitting with my grandma so that my parents could get ready for bed. Talking to her and rubbing her forehead between her eyebrows because that is how she used to comfort me when I was upset.
Her breathing pattern changed, I had my sister go get my parents and when they came in the decided that it was getting close to the end.
My mom went to call my uncle Paul and my dad called my uncle David, and Jennifer went to help papa come into the room, while I stayed with my grandma. Before anyone made it back into her room she had left us.
My papa thanked me for being strong for him and never breaking down infront of him. Now that I am back in North Dakota I am finding it really hard not to break down anytime that I am alone.
I wish I hadn't been so far from home these last years, I'd seen her twice since I started working at Amazon.