On Vacation. We left Gramma in the very capable hands of my mom and my sister.
On Wednesday (our Day 4), our neighbors started texting asking if they could help. At first, I thought I was getting mistake texts intended for someone else. But by the 3rd one, when they used words including Gramma, ambulance, and praying, I figured it was time to call my mom and find out what was going on.
Indeed, our Gramma was headed to the hospital. She had fallen and the EMTs thought she had possibly had a stroke. Everyone wanted to be sure she was ok.
Hold your horses! When she moved in with us, I thought her one request was NOT to be taken back to the hospital, which I thought everyone knew, understood, and respected. Was there an unspoken time limit on that request?!
Photo by Eva Tomankova on Unsplash
Thankfully, Gramma has good insurance. But the flip side of that is that they tend to keep her in FOREVER.
Meanwhile, we’re on the beach. We’re trying to process whether or not we should be packing up and heading home.
However, the reason we came was because we needed a break. Our youngest son has started Highschool, and my husband and I sense the clock ticking down. One-on-one time with him is complicated with Gramma in the house, and the three of us non-centenarians had been looking forward to this trip for at least a year.
I felt like a piece of driftwood bobbing on the water.
To go or to stay?
Would I be able to relax if we stayed?
On the other hand, would I resent her if we had to cut our vacation short?
To be or not to be…
-William Shakespeare
…on vacation
My preference is win-win situations, and this was anything but that.
We decided to stall.
Within 24 hours, Gramma was considered outpatient, even though she was staying in the hospital (???)
She had LOTS of visitors, and from what I’ve heard, green beans only ONCE!
(I also had some crazy cousins that claimed they were her favorites because they visited and we didn’t!)
When all her tests came back without showing anything new, they discharged her after a 4-day stay, with home health scheduled to come to the house. She got ice cream after discharge, and we got to continue our vacation!
