Visit to Grandma and Grandpa

Grandma Edie has been feeling pretty yucky and weak lately and recently Grandpa Arnie took a turn for the worse.  He has been in the hospital for the last several days with pneumonia.  They later found out that he actually had a blood clot in his lung, which was part of why he wasn't healing very quickly.  Anyway, Mom asked me to come to visit them so we decided to head to Eau Claire for the weekend.  Mom and I went to Durand on Saturday to help Grandma with whatever she needed while Grandpa was in the hospital.  We stopped by the hospital first.  Grandpa was in good spirits and I was able to get him laughing a little, which was nice to see.  With a little coaxing, we were able to convince Grandma to go out to lunch with us to the Durand House.  We had a really nice meal there together, but afterwards Grandma was feeling really tired so we took her back home to nap for a while.  Mom and I ran some errands and when we got back, Grandma had taken a turn.  She was coughing really hard and couldn't seem to stop.  Knowing that she has been undergoing chemotherapy, we knew it was important to get her checked out because even a cold could prove very dangerous for her.  We took her to the ER at the same hospital that Grandpa was at.  They took really good care of her and ran some tests.  Grandma kept apologizing for being there...evidently she didn't think pancreatic cancer and uncontrollable coughing were worthy of medical intervention, but her doctor disagreed and wanted to check her out.  It took several hours and I spent my time going between the two of them, keeping them posted on what was happening with the other one.  They did a CT scan of Grandma and found that she had fluid leaking into her abdomen and up into her lungs which is what was causing the cough.  They increased her diuretics and hoped that within a few days, she might be feeling better.  We finally left the hospital a little after 9pm.  Mom decided to stay with Grandma overnight, but I headed back to Eau Claire.  (I didn't have my contact stuff.) Unfortunately, we didn't get to see Mom again before we left to come back to Rhinelander.  This road of Grandma's illness has been a rocky one, and Mom, the nurse and caretaker, has borne more than her share of hospital visits, doctors appointments, and late nights of worry.  I know she gladly does it, but it is hard sometimes.  I'm glad I was able to be there with her this time.