Last week I made a good post about Grandma Anon for those asking for news. She had some good days last week, woke up but then would become "sleepy" and intermittently unresponsive. Then last Friday, she had the best night she's ever had and was awake and alert with the night staff, laughing, smiling. I got to see her around 6 am and talked to her and joked that she's always awake with me because I'm her favorite child. She looked at my phone as I showed her pictures of my boys and she said "they are good boys." The nurse had to change her since she kicked her poo bag, I got back to visit her and she was asleep. The nuero team that morning said she likely had one or two more nights in ICU then would transfer to a another stroke unit then go on to a rehab place. I was on cloud nine. I came back home to be with my family and she hasn't woke up since I left her. She won't respond to anything they ask. The ICU NP just had a hard conversation with my dad about the fact this might be how my mom will be the rest of her life. Sleeping in a bed, having to be fed through a tube and not controlling her bowels. I went from so happy last Friday to so much despair. Her neuro team has no idea what is going on and why she's declining and wont stay awake. Her scans look good, blood flow is moving to all parts of her brain, and she's not having strokes or seizures. I've felt messages from God telling me she's healing and she will get better. But then we hear this from the ICU team. I have no idea what to think or feel, but I do feel so much despair that we might have to make a really hard decision about the quality of her life.
Please pray for her and her family, especially my dad who has to be there all alone until we can make it there. Pray for me, I'm doubting if I'm even feeling messages from God at this point. Maybe I'm making it up to feel better about everything. I feel like such a dumby and I'm losing my faith she will be healed and I can hug her again.
I pray for awesome news about Grandma Anon's strength and healing!
I feel for your dad. And you. I'm sorry for forgetting but did you say your dad lives near or with your gran? If your grandma goes through rehab and is then "sent home" be aware that home hospice is available to support the care giver. My fam has this. Palliative (comfort) care. But this can be a very long journey for family caregivers. No tubes, no resuscitation. Meds for pain only. And could go on with someone in a vegetative state for even a year or more. Do you have any Medical power of attorney or document gran signed about her preference re life sustaining procedures if terminal. I have someone who has such and I know if he was in a coma-like state he would not want to be sustained at the hosp. I don't think an unconscious person going longer than a month like that is reasonable if the patient has brain issue, or has cancer, and is being kept alive with tubes and are in a facility. With home hospice you have to really think it through because it is usually morphine for pain or afib, that helps with the passing. Not everyone can deal with that responsibility. I see fam caregivers own health being risked by days and nights of this. Yes I pray. For a miracle healing, or peace and for release, for everyone's sake. But guess what... it is painfully obvious that the answer turns out to be that it is totally up to the spirit of the ill one. My sister has fooled us several times. It's between her and God. So in my case with my sister, I pray now for her caregiver to keep their health and survive this. (Her daughter. They live 3000 miles from me) I would not bring an unconscious person "home" for hospice. Even if you have home hospice help. The remaining care a family member would have to do is extremely debilitating and could go on a long time. People think hospice is only 6 months. I took care of someone in hospice for years when I was doing my 22 years of home health work. And hospice people are not with you round the clock.