Families make it happen

Good golly what day is it anyway? Let's see if I can get my barings and see if I can blog this correctly. Tuesday night, I got a call from my sister in law, hilary, that my gma was taking a turn for the worst. The docs were saying that she may not make it and so my dad was arranging to fly back to salt lake to meet my mom and catch another plane to Montana. Hil was calling to let me know they were packing up the car to head up as well, and she wouldn't be able to take my kids for me on Thursday. I was at Matt's house watching the kids-and he and Chris were getting ready to head to a movie. Everything halted. The idea of my grandma dying was too much for me to comprehend. Chris came over to find out what happened, because I broke down on the steps. We decided to cancel all plans, pack up the car and start the 8 hour journey to Missoula. We headed off about 9:30pm and ended up stopping in Dillon MT because the weather was so bad. We got a killer price on the Hotel. Wed afternoon, Hilary and I went in to see grandma in the ICU. She looked like death for sure. She was diagonal on the bed. her eyes weren't open, nor were they shut. And her mouth was dropped open . The only sign she wasn't dead was the beeping of the monitor. She was completely drugged out of her senses. Hilary and I got to talking to her and we brushed her hair, brushed her teeth, painted her nails. She didn't seem to realize where she was or quite who we were. Although it's now Friday, it seems like the same day. Between Chris and I, my uncles, parents, and Russ and Hil we take shifts so that she's never alone. She's made HUGE strides. The doctors went from saying she was hours from death to now saying she's close to coming home. She's been in and out of reality. She'll be totally aware and then a few moments later she has no idea where she is or anything. She has spent our entire time here thinking that chris is my brother Steve. She also goes from very pleasant to hating everyone. She's constantly trying to scheme an escape plan from the hospital. she HATES hospitals. She's pretty irritated that none of us are 'on her side.' I'm ok with her being angry with me for 5 more years, because that means I can have 5 more years with her. hopefully more than that. I have the 2am-4am shift this time around. I'd better get down and try to sleep. Ava is terribly homesick and has spent the last 24 hours crying for home and her friends. Chris is wanting to go home tomorrow as he's far behind in school, and the docs are talking about Grandma coming home next week. My grandfather is truly convinced that we have all saved her life. Showing up to see her, reminding her there is a lot to fight for, and that we are all loving her still has given her strength. Even though he's had 6 kids under 8 screaming and wrestling and spreading crumbs EVERYWHERE the past week....I'm sure he's ready for 'normal' to settle back in. I hope they find a good lawyer. I'm not a big fan of suing, but the way they screwed up my grandma....and the bills that are sure to come from a week in ICU and the long term care she's sure to need ....I say bring on the case! Never underestimate the power of family.