J’s Grandma

April 1, 2009 /

Sorry for the little hiatus there.  My Grandma fell on Monday and broke her leg.  Doesn’t sound like a big deal, and it probably wouldn’t be in someone young.  But she’s 86, and her bones are so brittle, the doctor described them as eggshells.  He also described some of the risks of surgery on someone of her age, which scared us all a bit, and had my grandma making lists of what piece of jewelry she wants to go to go to which granddaughter, if she should die.

Tuesday, she had surgery.  They put in a titanium plate, so she’s got titanium from hip to knee.  The surgeon said it would be between 6 and 12 weeks before she can even put any weight on it, so she’s going to have to go to a skilled nursing facility for awhile.  I’m assuming they’ll want to give her a lot of physical therapy to keep her muscle strength while she’s unable to put weight on her leg.  Of course, having her in a place like that brings me back to last year, and how my mom deteriorated in that place.  I suspect that my Grandma will do better.  She’s recovered from hip surgeries before, she knows what’s involved.  But will her body cooperate?  Will her bones cooperate?  I don’t know.  It’s scary and I’m worried.  We hear so often of a fall like this being the beginning of the end for elderly patients.  Of their decline afterwards.  I’m glad my uncle lives in the same town, and my great aunt, so hopefully they will be able to advocate for her and talk with doctors, etc.  Ugh.

So anyway, that’s the news.  Scary future, and I’m hoping for the best.  For today, I’m kind of vegging out.  Thinking of looking for work.  Doing laundry, that kind of thing.  Maybe I’ll peek around a few blogs, so if you haven’t seen me there in awhile, that’s why.  Grandma, plus just not being in front of a computer all day for work has sort of aclimated me to the real world again, so I’m not as motivated to blog, read blogs, etc. lately.  I’m sure I’ll get my groove back soonish.

9 Comments

  • amuirin

    April 2, 2009 at 12:43 pm

    You take your time. I’m sorry to hear of the accident. Hope everything went well, and she’ll be back up and at ’em soon.

    There has been such a lot of tragedy and bad news this last year. Seems several of my blog contacts are going through some tough times..

    I hope this year will be better for everyone.

  • ML

    April 2, 2009 at 6:06 pm

    J, hoping for a full recovery for you Grandma. Take care and putting all kinds of good vibes out there for you.

  • Jimmy

    April 3, 2009 at 12:36 am

    Oh my gosh J…….that is a big deal at her age. I can tell my bones ain’t what they used to be, and I’m only early 50’s.
    I wish her the best of recoveries!

  • Ted

    April 3, 2009 at 6:34 am

    Funny story about J’s grandma waking up after surgery … She woke up and the first thing she said to the nurse was: “Come over here so I can slap you because you’re ugly and stupid.” My sister — who is a nurse — said that it’s common for older folks to have a kind of dementia after surgery.

    Later, when J’s grandma was told about what she said, she had a good laugh.