Friday, December 17, 2004
Grandma Update
We went into the hospital today. Grandma is back in the ICU.
We were able to take all of the kids in to see her and she seemed happy for that. This ICU was different from the last time I visited someone in one. Last time was my cousin in the public hospital system and then it was 5 or six beds in a room with cables everywhere and only curtains to give the patients privacy. My grandma is fortunate enough to have private hospital cover and be in one of the best hospitals in my state.
The hospital itself reminds me of a hotel. It is bright and cheerful, has different types of art dotting around the place, it faces some mountains and all of the staff were friendly and professional.
The room my grandma is in (they have one patient per room in the ICU) faces the mountains and setting sun, has up-to-date technology and is rather pleasant and not at all scary. I guess this is one of the reasons I was tentative about visiting her since my last sight of an ICU (apart from the time I had day surgery at a smaller public hospital) was at the large public hospital where my cousin was.
We will be going in to see her again but this time we will take something like photos and pictures, just things to brighten up the room during her stay. Hopefully it will stimulate her a little to get her motivated towards living.
She also met (I think for the first time), Mercedes. She seemed to enjoy her visiting and even attempted a smile and to touch her. Jadeen and Miranda's reactions were opposite to what I had anticipated, and Erin was as I thought it would be. Jadeen embraced it and was all smiles and didn't see anything wrong, Miranda was quiet and shy and stayed away, not sure how to approach the situation. I guess it is because Miranda can understand the situation a bit better then Jade, but it could also be their different personalities.
From my understanding, Grandma is stable but still very frail. She can't talk due to the a tube in her throat and is constantly monitored. I do not know how long she will be with us but the least we can do is make it pleasant for her. My mum has said that she doesn't recognize us but I am sure she does.
There is so much going on that I just don't know. Sometimes I feel like I am left out of the loop.
After the hospital visit, we headed off to the city to look at Christmas window displays. We didn't get too much of a look around because we got distracted by things such as dinner and picking up a few last presents.
We were able to take all of the kids in to see her and she seemed happy for that. This ICU was different from the last time I visited someone in one. Last time was my cousin in the public hospital system and then it was 5 or six beds in a room with cables everywhere and only curtains to give the patients privacy. My grandma is fortunate enough to have private hospital cover and be in one of the best hospitals in my state.
The hospital itself reminds me of a hotel. It is bright and cheerful, has different types of art dotting around the place, it faces some mountains and all of the staff were friendly and professional.
The room my grandma is in (they have one patient per room in the ICU) faces the mountains and setting sun, has up-to-date technology and is rather pleasant and not at all scary. I guess this is one of the reasons I was tentative about visiting her since my last sight of an ICU (apart from the time I had day surgery at a smaller public hospital) was at the large public hospital where my cousin was.
We will be going in to see her again but this time we will take something like photos and pictures, just things to brighten up the room during her stay. Hopefully it will stimulate her a little to get her motivated towards living.
She also met (I think for the first time), Mercedes. She seemed to enjoy her visiting and even attempted a smile and to touch her. Jadeen and Miranda's reactions were opposite to what I had anticipated, and Erin was as I thought it would be. Jadeen embraced it and was all smiles and didn't see anything wrong, Miranda was quiet and shy and stayed away, not sure how to approach the situation. I guess it is because Miranda can understand the situation a bit better then Jade, but it could also be their different personalities.
From my understanding, Grandma is stable but still very frail. She can't talk due to the a tube in her throat and is constantly monitored. I do not know how long she will be with us but the least we can do is make it pleasant for her. My mum has said that she doesn't recognize us but I am sure she does.
There is so much going on that I just don't know. Sometimes I feel like I am left out of the loop.
After the hospital visit, we headed off to the city to look at Christmas window displays. We didn't get too much of a look around because we got distracted by things such as dinner and picking up a few last presents.
