somber note.
almost 1 week to the day that robin's grandmother fell ill, i received a call regarding my grandfather on my mother's side. since information gets lost in the panic that ensued, i didn't get the full scope of what was going on until later in the evening when my sister called me and passed the phone to my mother...both sobbing. "the doctor said that if there are out of town family members...they should come soon."
driving to wausau, i kept thinking about the good times. about the cottage up north and the belly laughs from his chair in the living room of his home. i kept thinking about what i was going to say to him now, if he was awake. the only requirement i put on myself was not to ask 'how is it going?'
we got to wausau around 10 in the evening. shortly after, we went to see him. he looked like a different person than the one i know...small, feeble, writhing in what seemed to be pain (although he insisted it wasn't bad). sharp as ever though. "andy and robin, it's so good to see you."
and i responded: "hi grandpa, how is it going?" i'm an idiot. he should have retorted "i'm in the fucking icu with kidney and conjestive heart failure sparked by a heart attack...how do you think i'm doing, a-hole?" but he just said "not so good."
the next 24 hours was spent checking in on him and sitting in the icu waiting room, talking with family. i wasn't able to see them over the holidays, so in a way it was good...under not so good circumstances.
saturday morning, we arrived back at the hospital around 8:30. we sat down and said our hellos in the waiting area and then heard an intercom announcment: 'first aid team to the icu.' turns out, morten hadn't eaten since lunch the day before and passed out, hitting his head on grandpa's bed. poor guy had to go to the er for treatment, adding a little more stress (and levity) to the situation.
we had to leave to get morten and beth ready for their flight on sunday, and admittantly i was glad. after we got back to madison, we had a nice dinner out. ethiopian food and a bottle of australian wine. it was exactly what the four of us needed after the past 24 hours.
anyway, grandpa has improved. he underwent dialysis and that has helped a lot. it was almost a mirror image of what happened to robin's grandma. so if you have any more spare positive thoughts, we could use them again.
grandpa, beth leaving, robin's grandma last week, constant dental work, sporadic training, the holidays and a few rough days at work. it's been a rough couple weeks.
driving to wausau, i kept thinking about the good times. about the cottage up north and the belly laughs from his chair in the living room of his home. i kept thinking about what i was going to say to him now, if he was awake. the only requirement i put on myself was not to ask 'how is it going?'
we got to wausau around 10 in the evening. shortly after, we went to see him. he looked like a different person than the one i know...small, feeble, writhing in what seemed to be pain (although he insisted it wasn't bad). sharp as ever though. "andy and robin, it's so good to see you."
and i responded: "hi grandpa, how is it going?" i'm an idiot. he should have retorted "i'm in the fucking icu with kidney and conjestive heart failure sparked by a heart attack...how do you think i'm doing, a-hole?" but he just said "not so good."
the next 24 hours was spent checking in on him and sitting in the icu waiting room, talking with family. i wasn't able to see them over the holidays, so in a way it was good...under not so good circumstances.
saturday morning, we arrived back at the hospital around 8:30. we sat down and said our hellos in the waiting area and then heard an intercom announcment: 'first aid team to the icu.' turns out, morten hadn't eaten since lunch the day before and passed out, hitting his head on grandpa's bed. poor guy had to go to the er for treatment, adding a little more stress (and levity) to the situation.
we had to leave to get morten and beth ready for their flight on sunday, and admittantly i was glad. after we got back to madison, we had a nice dinner out. ethiopian food and a bottle of australian wine. it was exactly what the four of us needed after the past 24 hours.
anyway, grandpa has improved. he underwent dialysis and that has helped a lot. it was almost a mirror image of what happened to robin's grandma. so if you have any more spare positive thoughts, we could use them again.
grandpa, beth leaving, robin's grandma last week, constant dental work, sporadic training, the holidays and a few rough days at work. it's been a rough couple weeks.
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