Gram

Gram on New Year's Day 2011

My cousin, Esteban, called me this morning to let me know that my Gram is in the hospital again. I'm not surprised because when we were at her house on New Year's Day, she really did not look very good. She first went to the hospital on December 11 because she thought she had had a stroke. Turns out that her symptoms (dizziness, confusion) were caused by a bladder infection and that she didn't have a stroke. Whew! They kept her a couple of days for observation, treated the UTI, and ran some other tests, which all came back negative. She went home on the 13th and looked like she was feeling better when we saw her on the 21st. She celebrated her 94th birthday on December 22. Esteban took her to various doctor appointments while he was home from Los Angeles over Christmas Break. She was put on oxygen on Dec. 30 and had more tests run, including one to check the veins (arteries?) in her neck. Esteban left to go back to L.A. on Jan. 1 so his brother has been staying with her at her house since then. I don't know all of the details but, apparently, Gram has suddenly become violent and belligerent; accusing everyone of trying to kill her by withholding her medications. She's convinced she has pneumonia and that everyone is keeping her antibiotics away from her. Yesterday, my uncle was asked to spend the afternoon with Gram while Chuck went to work and he reluctantly agreed. I guess that was when Gram convinced him to take her to the ER. They did chest x-rays, urinalysis, blood tests (CBC) to check for pneumonia or ANY type of infection and everything came back negative. They are still waiting for the results on her neck veins...maybe she has some blockage that is causing her symptoms? Esteban mentioned an Alzheimer's diagnosis, which I am finding hard to believe. From our experience with Bill's mom and from what little research we've done online, Alzheimer's does not have a sudden onset. Esteban also said that his mom talked with Aunt Bernice's (Gram's sister) daughter and learned that, supposedly, Bernice had the same type of onset and she died about a year later. Weird! I don't know what's wrong with Gram, but something is definitely not right. In the meantime; Wanda, Charles and my father have the task of making decisions for her care after she is released from the hospital. I'd feel SO much better if Esteban was making those decisions, especially since my uncle and father haven't had anything to do with Gram for at least 3 years. It's pretty pathetic that my uncle lives 5 miles away and Gram has to wait until Esteban comes in from L.A. to take her to her doctor appointments. But, both Charles and my father have "issues" with Esteban and they would be completely pissed off if he stepped in and made decisions, even though they don't have a freakin' clue. Idiots!
My Gram is a feisty woman; stubborn, strong-willed and resilient. She has fought back from tougher things than this. It was sad, though, to see her so weak and vulnerable on New Year's Day. I realize that she can't live forever (although I do have my own theories about that!) and that I'm lucky to still have her in my life at the age of 94. I've been thinking about her all day today and especially about those yummy Stack Cookies she makes! I hope that the medical staff can figure out what's wrong very soon.