Something Unexpected

There are some things I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy. At the top of that list is Alzheimer’s. My grandmother was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s back in the spring. Before that it was dementia. It’s been down right awful.

In the spring, two things happened. I can’t remember the order in which everything happened, but I’m pretty sure this is the first. Nana had been living in my parent’s basement. She loved it down there. She had quite a bit of space to herself. Upstairs was either too hot or too cold. Downstairs she was always comfortable. Until she had a real nasty fall. Fortunately, nothing had broken. The hospital sent her to a rehab facility. She came home within a few days. She was moved from downstairs to upstairs.

A couple of months later (I think), Nana fell again. Mom took her back to the ER. All images came back clear. She was running a fever, and had an infection. A stomach bug had been going around our house(thanks daycare). The doctor sent her home. Two days later, she had worsened, and then she fell again. This time she was sent from the ER closest to us, to the big hospital 45ish minutes away. She was admitted.

Everything gets real blurry here. I don’t know how long she spent in the hospital. She ended up in ICU. The doctor’s weren’t sure she was going to make it. The ran every test they could thing of. Preliminary results showed nothing. The full test take at least a week to come pack with results. They were testing for tick-borne illnesses. The only day I remember for certain, is the day of my daughter’s birthday party.

My aunt (one of them) had flown in. Like I said, the doctor’s weren’t sure she would make. I was told not to cancel the birthday party. My aunt stayed at the hospital so mom could come home, shower, change, and celebrate. While she was there, my aunt called her. Nana was being released from the ICU. Mom rushed back to the hospital.

Not long after that, we had packed up everything and went home. I packed a bag for the baby and took her to her other grandmother’s house for the night. This was the first time she ever spent the night way from me. I don’t remember why, but I remember needing to be able to work without the baby. I can’t remember what needed to be done, though.

The next morning, mom called. We had a diagnosis: Ehrlichiosis. Now, if you’re like the rest of us, you’re scratching your head and saying, “What???” It’s a very rare tick-borne illness. The stats on it are truly terrifying. She wasn’t out of the woods yet.

Time is fuzzy again. I remember Abby being put on an antibiotic for an infected mosquito bite. Nana wasn’t doing so well. Mom was living at the hospital. Abby had a MASSIVE allergic reaction. I rushed her to the ER. We were there for several hours.

Now, mom tells this story that gives me goosebumps. I had texted her to let her know that the baby was going to the ER. She told Nana that the baby was sick. She told her that she had to get better because the baby needed her. Less that 24 hours later, Nana was sitting up. She astounded the doctors. All of whom, didn’t think she’d pull through. The odds said she wouldn’t.

Coincidence? Maybe, but I don’t actually believe so. Two days from me taking the baby to the ER, Nana was released to the rehab facility again. She spent a little bit of time there, but not as long as they expected.

This was supposed to be a short back story. This was not what I had intended to write. But, apparently, this is what needed to be written.

30 Days of Thanks: I am thankful for love.

NaNo Word Count: 8,118/50,000