Waiting Waiting

I feel so hazy today.  My mind is somewhere else completely.  My grandmother, BC, (the one I work with) has been in and out of the hospital for the last 2 months because she has 3 fractures in her back and because of a very long and complicated history I will not bore you with it took a while to find/treat/get her back to any sort of shape to be at home.  Well her mother EE has been down here the last month and a half to take care of her.  EE is 94.  -I think its kinda cute that no matter how old they are her mom still has to rush down from Utah to take care of her daughter

Well BC is finally back home and with physical therapy and some restrictions (we took her keys) she is improving slowly.  Thankfully things are healing and she is getting some mobility back (she wasn't 100% to begin with so its hard to gauge where she is exactly)

EE lives by herself in Utah and still sews quilts, crochets blankets and weaves rugs.  She pays her own bills and schedules rides to her doctor appointments.  Really the only issues she has is that she is starting to lose her sight and she cannot drive.  She is healthy, spunky and tells you exactly what is on her mind.  She was a 'wild girl in her day' because she insisted on going to college.  She does a lot for her church and pushes us to as well and has a lot of friends that come to see her.  She is buying endless presents for her great granddaughters that live near her and is always telling stories of her life.  I love to pour over old photos with her and ask about relatives and places and things that happened because she has a very clear memory of it all and usually a goofy story to go with it.

EE had a stroke yesterday afternoon.  In the 28 years that I have been alive she hasn't even been sick before, that I can remember.  It is really hard to see her feeling helpless.  The left side of her body did not work at all yesterday, today she is making progress.  Her toes and fingers move and she can mostly squeeze your hand.  Her mouth and face do not work well on the left but she is not slurring her speech anymore.  The doctors thought she was delusional when she was giving orders to my mom and aunt out of the corner of her mouth from the hospital bed when she was talking about her Southwest ticket and eye appointment.  We all knew that she was telling us to push her trip back to Salt Lake to Monday instead of Sunday so she could get the shot in her eye that helps her see.  (if getting a needle to the eye once a month doesn't make you strong I don't know what does)

Today I got to see her twice and though she is looking much much better and all of the doctors and nurses keep telling us how AMAZED they are at her progress, I can't look at my sweet great grandma without getting tears in my eyes.  Its just such a change.  Its one of those things that is so large that you can actually feel the world twist to put you on a new path and in a new direction.  My poor, crazy, cranky, goofy old grandma is the strongest person I have ever known.  My mom always says the ladies on that side of the family are strong because we have great genes from EE and her mother MF.  They started a long line of crazy, stubborn, fun loving women.  I'm lucky to be one of them  (even if my mom also jokes that my genes are more diluted than hers lol) 

I have to say that tonight when we picked up BC, seeing my brother CG so upset was almost the hardest part.  CG hates hospitals, and almost refuses to talk about anyone he loves that is sick or hurt.  He just likes to avoid it, doesn't want to think about it.  He was watching through the window while the nurse did strength exercises with EE and to see him tear up made me want to just hug him so badly.   -He's not really a huggy person and we don't really have that kind of relationship so I let him sweet fiance comfort him.
I did have to smirk at the similarities when both he and I started to cry a little and when his fiance and my husband moved to comfort us we both turned the other direction said that we're 'fine' and wiped our eyes while the others watched on. 

Now we are just waiting to see what the doctors say and what the outcome will be.  She has a large blood clot in her neck and the meds she is on to fix it are dangerous and if they don't work she'll have to have surgery.  Not good.  We're just waiting to see what will happens.  If anyone can get through this its her.