Grandpa update, Grandma update

For those of you who may not already be in the know, Grandpa is still in the hospital under the watchful eye of a urologist. Recent lab work shows his potassium levels to be critically elevated. Although potassium is required by the body for nerve and muscle function, too much potassium can interrupt the function of the heart by stopping its muscle function. High potassium levels in the blood can literally stop the heart. Since Grandpa’s levels have remained over the high limits for multiple days now, the doctor is keeping him under observation even as Grandpa recovers from his recent stroke.

The issue causing the high levels in potassium have to do with kidney function. In a healthy individual, potassium is flushed from the body through the kidneys. Although Grandpa is drinking sufficient water and is able to urinate without difficulty, the levels of potassium in the blood are still a serious concern. In reality, we need for someone to be paying careful attention to those readings because without lab tests to reveal those concentrations, there is no way to know of the pending danger those unusual and dangerously high concentrations may cause to Grandpa’s heart. A heart attack caused by high levels of potassium would be irreversible. So, he is still in Ft Worth under a doctor’s care, and we are taking this one day at a time. There is no way to plan in advance the continuing care for Grandpa. We have laid the foundation for getting him closer to us, but for now, we wait.

News Flash: As I am writing this blog, the hospital called to tell us that Grandpa is being transported to rehab today. Praise the Lord! That will be a great relief to all of us – especially Grandma.

As for Grandma, it is still a mixed bag of emotions in dealing with her. Mostly good with a smattering of outbursts that defy explanation. Little inconsequential things seem to bother her most. For instance, When the bathroom door was closed yesterday evening and no one was in the bathroom, she went on and on about how the bathroom door should only be closed when someone is inside the bathroom. Otherwise, to her way of thinking, she has no way of knowing if the bathroom is occupied or not. When we suggest that a soft knock on the closed door would answer that question, she took great offence to the idea.

That discussion went on for thirty minutes when Tres finally admitted that he had used the bathroom and the smell was awful enough that he had turned on the vent fan and closed the door to contain the odor inside the bathroom. Somehow, that confession shut down Grandma’s complaining. Maybe she accepted the closed door as an act of kindness, which was Tres’ intent. We will never know. Those are the kind of little peeves that are driving us all crazy. They are not unbearable, but they are sudden, infantile, and upsetting in their proposed importance and urgency. The lengthy harangue that accompanies those complaint session is what is most difficult to handle. But we are managing, and Grandma is trying to get along. Her mind just takes sudden turns to the dark side.

Wednesday, when everyone waited all day for the hospital to call and tells us that Grandpa was being moved to the care facility nearby, only to find out a 5 pm that that was not happening, caused a serious emotional breakdown on Grandma’s part. So, Mama and Grandma left as soon as they knew to visit Grandpa in the hospital. The visit would have waited until the following morning in normal situations. This is not a normal situation. In traffic, it took Mama more than ninety minutes to get to the hospital, so they were only able to visit for about forty-five minutes before they were asked to leave. Visiting hours are from 7 am to 7 pm. But the brief visit seemed to satisfy Grandma, so for everyone’s peace of mind, it was worth the trip. Now, we will not be required to make those trips.

Among the planning we can control, Mama and I have cancelled the trip we had planned to New Jersey and Virginia because of the uncertainty of caring for Grandma and Grandpa. Sad day. Both of us were looking forward to that trip, especially since it was coordinated with our 40^th anniversary. What we can foresee from this vantage point is that Grandma and Grandpa will need Mama’s fulltime attention through the next several months. We will evaluate Grandpa’s ability to care for himself as he recovers, but there is no reasonable way to conclude that he will be able to care for Grandma as he has done until recently. Grandma is desperate to get back to that arrangement, but I do not see it happening – at all. They will need constant oversight and immediate access to help for many months to come. Mama, who is ready and willing to provide that help is the only person available to do so.  

Here at the farm, Norman has cleaned out the camper that served as a home for Grandma and Grandpa for the past year and advertised to for sale as of yesterday. He has seen a lot of activity on that ad. In fact, he has two interested parties coming to look the camper – which is parked in our front yard - today. When it sells, we will have a better ability to calculate a path froward to providing a place for Grandma and Grandpa to live.

Thank you for your prayers.