Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Houston, We Have a Problem.

I am exhausted. I had to be up at 6:30 this morning so I could get ready and take my grandmother to the hospital for surgery. Well, I didn't go to sleep until 2:00 am.

Sleep and I have a love/hate relationship. I love it. Need it. Want it all the time, but sleep doesn't want to be anywhere near my bed for the most part. This probably has something to do with the fact that I was so accustomed to being able to roll over and touch my husband. I have nightmares alot, and all he had to do was put his hand on my shoulder and I would snap out of them.

My most recent nightmares have included being stalked by a serial killer and attacked by zombies. (Ok, you can stop laughing so hard now. And clean your screen. You just snorted soda/milk/water on it. Didn't you? Uh huh. I knew it.) It was totally messed up because it started out with me jumping out of the serial killers' car and running through Henagar park. The killer was chasing me and I woke up right before he could grab me again. I fell right back to sleep and automatically was dreaming I was in the scene from the beginning of Dawn of the Dead, where the little girl attacks the husband and wife. I looked over and she screamed at me and then raised her hand. I saw a huge butcher knife in it and I knew she was going to throw it at me, so I just looked at her and said, "No! Drop it!", and she lunged for me. I woke up then, fumbling for my light and screaming. My dogs were licking my face, trying to reassure me that I was ok.

I bring this on myself. I know I do. I'm fascinated with zombies and the supernatural. I'm always reading something or watching a movie. I freak myself out to the point of not being able to sleep without having the lights on. I love the movies Zombieland and Shaun of the Dead. Simon Pegg, the guy that plays Shaun, is extremely funny by the way. Have you seen him in Hot Fuzz? No? Watch it. You'll love it.

Anyway, I know I'm all over the place with this post, but I'm delerious. Like I said, 4.5 hours of sleep just doesn't cut it. So... back to my Granny.

 We got there at 9:00 am and was settled in a day surgery room in about 15 minutes. We already knew she probably wouldn't be taken back until noon or so, depending on how his previous surgeries went. We piled up and watched The Price is Right and The Secret Window. Everything rocks on and they finally come get her at 12:30. By this time, Mama is there with us, and the nurse tells us they'll call us when they start the surgery. About 45 minutes later, Dr. Herberholz walks in. We're a little panicked to see him, and he quickly explains that Granny is ok, but they had to cancel her surgery for the time being. She was fine until they started giving her the knockout gas and then suddenly, her blood pressure went through the roof. The surgery is technically elective right now, but will need to be done soon. As soon as she was in recovery, her stats stabilized and she came back to the room. They fed her and watched her for another hour before releasing her.

She's fne, but I'm worried about her for other reasons now. We had talked about a few things yesterday, and she asked me about them again today. We had the same conversation we did yesterday. I asked her if she remembered chatting about those things, but she doesn't. Mom noticed it too. So has the minion. Minion lives with Granny, and she says that Granny has become more forgetful lately. That scares me. I've seen up close and personal what Alzheimer's and dementia can do. We didn't say anything to her about it today, because she was already stressed enough as it was. I'm off Monday, and I plan to talk to her then. How do you bring that up? How do you say to the woman that has helped raise you for 29 years that you are afraid she's losing her mind/memory?

2 comments:

  1. I'm sorry to hear that things didn't go well with Granny. It's rough having to watch the ones we love get older and deal with the deterioration that comes with it.

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  2. Thanks Aunt Tish. I'm trying not to really think to hard about this right now. I'm trying to process all the info. Are you going to be home tomorrow? I don't go in til 2 and was going to bring books.

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