My Grandmother is a sweet, polite, appreciative, nervous 93 year old. And she's like a cat with nine lives. She's been close to dying a number of times since this fall but just when you think it's the end for her she turns a corner and perks back up. Don't get me wrong, cognitively she's declined greatly since she broke her hip last May and since the fall she really hasn't been able to walk at all, but she has a tremendous drive and somehow keeps on going. I saw her over the weekend and was concerned because she felt warm and was breathing very quickly and shallowly. I summoned help, a nurse came in and determined that she had a fever and her respiration was over twice what it should be with a quick pulse too. I don't know that she realized who I was but I did her nails and she appreciated it when I held her hands or patted her delicate head. Her hands are so tiny. I have pretty bony hands and mine look like a linebacker's next to hers. They're so frail but beautiful in their own way. It is a cruelty to die bit by bit. It is a travesty how the elderly are treated in this country. I just hope that she's not sad or in pain and that when she does pass that it's peacefully and hopefully I'll be there so she's not alone when she dies.
Wednesday, February 04, 2009
My Grandmother is a sweet, polite, appreciative, nervous 93 year old. And she's like a cat with nine lives. She's been close to dying a number of times since this fall but just when you think it's the end for her she turns a corner and perks back up. Don't get me wrong, cognitively she's declined greatly since she broke her hip last May and since the fall she really hasn't been able to walk at all, but she has a tremendous drive and somehow keeps on going. I saw her over the weekend and was concerned because she felt warm and was breathing very quickly and shallowly. I summoned help, a nurse came in and determined that she had a fever and her respiration was over twice what it should be with a quick pulse too. I don't know that she realized who I was but I did her nails and she appreciated it when I held her hands or patted her delicate head. Her hands are so tiny. I have pretty bony hands and mine look like a linebacker's next to hers. They're so frail but beautiful in their own way. It is a cruelty to die bit by bit. It is a travesty how the elderly are treated in this country. I just hope that she's not sad or in pain and that when she does pass that it's peacefully and hopefully I'll be there so she's not alone when she dies.
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4 comments:
this is a striking photo.
the bone structure of the elderly and dying intrigues me. What stands out most in my memories of the time my mother was dying are her bones - those in her face especially, and how pared down and pure her bone structure became. She certainly looked ill, no doubt about it, but she was also quite lovely in a macabre sort of way, with the planes of her face in such sharp relief.
i hope so too
so good of you to be there for her all the time
it means a lot. i'm sure of it
incredible photo.
love the photo too. and the post. go grammy!
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