A year ago, my grandma was given the ultimate death sentence. She had been battling colon cancer for more than a year. Lots of treatments, tests, everything you can do to fight the big C. She went for her appointment, the appointment in which her doctor gave up on her, and her fight. The appointment ended in the doctor recommending her to hospice. The end was near, as far as he was concerned. The tumors were growing and growing in new places, the radiation wasn't working, and just making grandma more sick. So, he put an end to it. The hospice nurse would come as often as grandma wanted, to help make things more comfortable for her. It meant that we would lose her soon.
The last time our family had to interact with hospice was for my aunt. My grandma's only daughter. Ellen's fight was not long, not the second time around. We lost her 20 years ago, and this was on all of our minds as we processed this information about grandma. The nurse came, visited with grandma and set up a schedule.
If you don't know my grandma, she is a fighter, strong, and amazing. It was hard to believe she wouldn't make it to Christmas or her 85th birthday. I was angry and sad, not ready to lose her. How could any doctor recommend hospice for her? It couldn't be possible. The nurse visited grandma once a week for three months.
In that time, the nurse could not believe she was needed. Grandma was dancing twice a week, shopping on Friday nights, and making all her own meals. She was grocery shopping, going to her weekly hair appointment, and driving herself. The nurse did not understand why any doctor would recommend hospice for my grandma. The nurse called the doctor and told him that she was not needed. He had my grandmother come in and see him.
After that appointment, he cancelled the hospice. He told grandma she would need to come in and see him once a month for check ins. It's been a year....my grandma made it to Christmas, and her 85th birthday. She is still here. Still dancing twice a week, shopping, and doing those things that make her happy. So, on my way home today, I thought about grandma and how very lucky we are that she is beating that death sentence.
UPDATE 2/7: It's ironic that I wrote this post and then received a call from my dad a few days later. Grandma had pneumonia back in October, which put her in the hospital for almost a month. Her recovery has been slow, but she has been doing pretty good. This week, she thought that the pneumonia was back, so she saw her general practitioner, who sent her to the oncologist. Her kidneys are shutting down and her lungs are pushing on them. He called hospice and put her back on. For now we are taking day to day. She is still home and "fine" just moving a little more slowly then she is used to. If you pray- she could use it. If you don't, send her positive, good, full of life vibes.
