Saturday, June 6, 2009

We made it to OKC


My sisters Rachael and Natalie and I along with Bella arrived in Oklahoma City yesterday to visit my grandma Annie. She is doing so well after her car accident. It's hard to believe she was so close to dying, cause she seems so good now. Still not 100%, but after talking with the staff at the Rehab hospital it sounds like the plan is for her to go home on Tuesday and then will start outpatient therapy 3 time a week. Which will be quite a break from the 3+ hours a day she gets here in the hospital. She keeps saying she can't wait to go home and rest, she doesn't want to do anything and doesn't want any company, she just wants to be alone and do what she wants to do, which sounds like nothing. I think this rehab is wearing her out, but it certainly has done her good.
Yesterday when we arrived she was eating lunch, she had a grilled cheese sandwich, mashed potatoes, a few pickles and an Ensure*. Mom you will be happy to know that she ate almost the whole thing. She eats all her meals in the dining room, and she has made some friends here in rehab. They all seemed to know we were coming and were asking her all kinds of questions about us. We brought her some Panera Sweet Bread to eat, bad idea, because she didn't want it, and so we just ended up snacking on it all day. I guess she doesn't have much of a sweet tooth these days. My mom also made some homemade Homatoush, a poppyseed pastry favorite of my grandma's, and it arrived in the mail yesterday. It seemed as if it was straight from the oven cause it was still warm when we took it out of the UPS box, that's how hot it is down here. A heat that is overwhelming to my sisters and I, but no one here seems fazed by 90 degree heat, I guess this is nothing compared to what they have coming in a month or so.
We left the hospital around 9pm last night and still had not had any dinner, so since Bella was fast asleep in her carseat, we decided to stop and get a quick bit to eat. We had a bit of trouble deciding where and what to eat, we wanted Mexican food, but being so late decided we shouldn't. So many choices (we are not used to that in our small town) Natalie wanted fast food, Rach wanted real food, and I didn't really care, so I let them figure it out. The drove around in circles it seemed to me for about a half hour until we finally ended up at a Mexican Restaurant. At the restaurant Rach and Natalie were saying how they were worried they wouldn't be able to fall asleep because why I don't know, we were all exhausted, but Natalie pulled out some tylenol PM and took 2 and offered some to Rach. Rach declined saying she would take it at the hotel since she was driving. Natalie convinced her that they would not kick in that fast and to just take it so she doesn't have to look for it again later. 10:30 we get back in the car to head to the hotel that is 10 minutes away. I was in the back seat with Bella, Rach was driving and Natalie was in charge of Navigating with the GPS. Somehow we ended up on the Turnpike with no exits for 22 miles. Are you kidding me??? We were all so tired after getting up at 3am for our early morning flights, and now they were both worried about the sleeping pills they just took kicking in. We were all so annoyed, so despite the "NO U-Turn - strictly enforced" sign, we did it anyway, cause we were not going to take a 45 minute wrong turn detour. I think today I will drive.
We want to take Grandma Annie to church today, but she doesn't seem to want to. We got it cleared with the doctor to let her have a pass, but she says it's humiliating to go in a wheelchair or use a walker. Isn't that sad? We tried to convince her no one would think anything badly of her but would all be happy to see her and how well she has come from where she was a few weeks ago. So far my stubborn Grandma isn't budging though. We will go up there again this AM and try again to convince her. We think it would be a good trial run to see how she does out in the world, since she goes home Tuesday.
Well I should wrap this up, thanks to Bella you all get this little update. She woke up at 6am and to be kind to my sisters, I brought her out in the lobby so they could sleep a little longer. I will try to upload some more pictures later today, I am using the lobby computer so I don't have access to them right now.
I miss my baby boy terribly, this is the first time I have been away from him. It's going to be a long 5 days without him. He is in very good hands with Grandma and Daddy, so I am not worried about him, I just miss him.

*The daily food report is for my mom. When she was here with my Grandma a few weeks ago she would give us daily blog updates on her progress and she always included what Grandma was eating at each of her meals. I'd say she's come a long way from a "few bites of grits with butter and salt for breakfast", and "a little lemon pudding for lunch."

Natalie posted a video of Grandma Annie and Bella on her blog, go HERE to see it.

5 comments:

Tina in CT said...

I'm sure your family back home in MI and NY are very happy to have your detailed update and see that your grandmother is so much better. What a recovery she had. Guess being stubborn is a good thing. If so, then I'm blessed. Have a great visit.

Elle J said...

You sisters always seem to have so much fun together and some story to tell that makes me laugh! :)

Your Grandma's opinion about a wheelchair and/or walker is JUST like my Grandmother. Oh the conversations I observed between my mom and her mother when I was a teen (she had her family late in life so she was in her 80's when I was a teen). But I LOVED this spunk about her and so did every one else!! :)

ENJOY your family time together.

Ellen said...

Happy to hear y'all made it there OK and had a nice visit. That is such a sweet picture of your grandmother with your daughter -- such a treasure. I will have to see the video of them now!

Annie said...

Something in the name??? I don't think it's sad Grandma Annie doesn't want to go to church in a wheelchair! Seems reasonable to me! And presupposes she'll be bopping in there without the wheelchair in the near future. How cheering to see her looking so good! I bet she adores the baby!

Cecelia said...

She looks so good and she has her strength back in her arms so she can hold Bella. She's amazing.