Good News, Bad News

Hey Humble Readers...

Wow, it's been a day.

Started off with Pip giving me an extra early wake-up call (5:30am), then we had a small disaster after breakfast when a framed picture on a shelf in the living room fell and took a glass vase full of sand with it.  Both the frame and the vase shattered on the tv stand and sent glass everywhere.  Miraculously, Pip, who was less than 3 feet away from the whole mess didn't get a scratch. 

After I got that cleaned up, I settled Pip for his morning nap and gave Ginny a bath.  We decided that today would be another go round of potty training, so I moved the potty to the kitchen and got the little miss into her training pants.  Two and a half hours later all I had to show for it was a pile of laundry.  We went through all six pairs of quilted training pants.  **sigh**  We'll give it another go tomorrow morning. 

This afternoon was about keeping the wee little man happy, and trying to get some housework done.  All I managed to accomplish was sweeping and mopping the kitchen floor.  But, I did finally have someone respond to my kijiji ad for the bassinet who actually showed up (have had four or five people interested but they never came by to look at it) and paid full asking price. 

And then I got the phone call...

You might remember that I was rather concerned on Friday that my Mom's primary care physician wanted to see her today.  I was concerned that it was going to be be bad news about "the spot" that she had removed last week.  Thankfully, the appointment wasn't about that, and the doc isn't concerned about the spot, as he's certain the oncologist removed all of it.  Whew, good news.

My mom's main doc is also my grandmother's main doc.  And it wasn't good news. 

My grandma, who has been in a nursing home for the last four years, ever since she had a series of physically debilitating strokes, has just been diagnosed with lung cancer. 

We have known for a couple of months that she hasn't been well, but she's been ill before and she always surprises us and bounced back.  But this is different.  She's been complaining of stomach pain and has been eating very little.  Back before Christmas Dr. W ordered some tests.  It was the MRI last week that finally revealed the big picture. 

GG (what we all call Grandma... ever since the first great-grandchild was born) has had a very poor quality of life since her strokes.  She was a very active, social person, so losing her ability to communicate clearly and only having use of her right arm have been taxing.  Her mental accuity has also slipped quite a bit.  She doesn't remember my wee-lings' names (calls them 'the babies') and she struggles to remember who my Beloved is. 

Of course, when Dr. W asked, my mom reiterated GG's wishes.  No interventions, other than what's needed to keep her comfortable.  No surgery.  No chemo or radiation.  The prognosis is anywhere between one and nine months.  Mom is not that optomistic. 

My head knows that it will be a blessing when GG passes.  She would never have wanted to live this way, confined to a bed or wheelchair, eating mush for every meal, and never knowing if it's 2013 or 1957.  And she never wanted extraordinary measures, even when she had the strokes. 

By my heart hurts at the knowledge that I will most likely not see her alive again.  For the last few years, whenever we've gone out to K-town, I'd resigned myself to the fact that when we left it might have been the last time I would get to see her, but it doesn't make today any easier.