Thursday...

Good morning everyone! I want to thank all of you who have replied (and those who haven't) for your wonderful outpouring of support for my son. You, dear friends, are terrific. I think today, it is starting to sink in a little bit with me. I feel like I'm walking around in a daze today. To add to things, I got an email from my sister this morning letting me know that our 83 yr old grandmother broke her hip. Her landlord found her laying on the ground outside of her apartment Tuesday morning. We don't know how long she'd been there by the time she was discovered. They took her to Clinton hospital who said her hip was broke...then said no, her leg was broke...then said no, neither one was broke. Finally, they transferred her to Regional in Terre Haute. but wouldn't do that until they got my Mom's ok..and I don't know where she was at that time but they had trouble getting hold of her. Regional said yes, her hip is broke. But...they wouldn't touch her until they could get her heart specialist to come in. He finally did last night and cleared her for surgery. They have to replace the hip, joint, and whatever else. Get this. They aren't starting the surgery until the surgeon finishes a 3hour surgery which doesn't even start until 3:30 this afternoon. That puts her not even going into surgery until around 6:30 tonight! When she is released, it will be to a nursing home since she will need specialized care and physical therapy. The family doesn't expect her to snap out of this one. From my experience at working in nursing homes, after a hip replacement, the patient is lucky to survive a year. At 83? I would be surprised if she lasts that long. Other than this grandmother, my step-father's mom is the only grandparent I have still alive. She's not in the best of shape either. But we've been very fortunate to have 5 generations alive at the same time for so long. Sherri

Morning everyone. Sherri, I must have missed a post somewhere, what happened to your son'??? Sorry to hear about your grandma. I have one grandma left alive, my dad's mom, but she has nothing to do with us, so it's not like we're close or anything. In other grandma news, my best friend's grandma, who was always "grandma" to me and treated me every bit as family, died yesterday. So now I have TWO funerals to go to while we're in KC. The funeral home let us see dad last night, as he is being flown to KC today. I couldn't stand it for more than about 20 seconds. It was bad. His funeral will be closed casket, as it is graveside only. The funeral home aggitated me yesterday. They never mentioned to me that I was going to have to pay cash for the obituaries, and it was $125 for each paper (KC & Indy) that we are putting them in. So there went all the cash I had for the trip. It's a good thing we're flying, because I've got about $30 to my name until the day AFTER we get home. It's incredibly frustrating.

Found the post. I"m so sorry to hear about that Sherri. I sure hope things work out for the best and you and your family are in my prayers.

Darrah- that is outrageous. I don't think the papers up here charge for obituaries. The funeral home help you write it and submiths to what ever papers you want. Guess that is just another differnece between bigger cities and smaller ones. I hope it wasn't just the funeral home ripping you off and charging you for them submitting it.

Darrah & Jan, Thank you both. I don't expect Grandma to have a fighting attitude about this...neither does any of the rest of the family. She's a glass half empty person and wil most likely throw in the towel. I think she's just tired and ready to go home. We all could be wrong. We'll see. Darrah..when my sister died (in 1990), her funeral was in Illinois. The day before she died, my grandpa's sister died in Texas & the funeral was being held there. Family members had to try to decide which funeral to go to. I'm sorry that you have two funeral to go to, but glad that you weren't placed in a position to have to choose which one to go to. I think I would call another funeral home and ask them what the standard procedure is for placing obits in the paper. Unless you run a picture and several lines of 'in Memory Of', I can't see you being charged with the obit entries. Sherri

Boy Sherri when it rains it pours doesn't it? So sorry to hear about your grandmother on top of your worries with your son. So much can happen with these older people. A lot depends on her attitude and strength. I'm at a nursing home weekly and know many of the residents. Some are so strong and deterimened to hold on. A lot will depend on grandma herself. I've seen them come in older than her and walk out. If she can overcome all the other complications that can come with the surgery (blood loss, infection, pneumonia) she has a good chance to survive this. Is she around here?

Sherri, is your grandmother from Clinton? I'm from Terre Haute, and Regional is a pretty good hospital. I'm sure they'll take good care of her there. What nursing home will she be going to? In TH or in Clinton. My mom-in-law works at Heritage House in Clinton. She's the dietary manager. Anyway, I'm sorry to hear she broke her hip. That must be very painful. I am still feeling kind of down. I still don't know why. Everything's good. I just wish I felt better. I think I'm starting to miss my former best friends (restaurants and their food). I feel like I need contstant stimulus lately. I have my days packed with work, and exercise and activities for the kids. anyone else feel this way after surgery, constantly needing something to do??? Linda Vicory

Linda, Yes, my grandma lives in Clinton...so does my mom & dad, and my brother (and his family). I have 1 sister living in North TH and one living in West TH. I lived in Clinton for 16 years before coming to Indy. The first 6, I worked in the area nursing homes in Clinton & TH. The last 10, I worked at Lilly's in Clinton. I was born at Union, 1 sister at Regional, and 1 sister & brother at Clinton hospital. Yep, a little bit familiar with the area...lol. Cindy (the West TH sister) hasn't let me know yet which nurseing home Grandma will be going into. I would guess it would be in Clinton so it would be more convenient for my Mom since my Mom doesn't drive. As long as it isn't Clinton Nursing Home, she should get decent care. The biggest factor is going to be her outlook. Grandma isn't a fighter...she's a complainer. So...alot depends on her outlook. BTY..I always need something to do too. I don't know if it's just the added energy that I didn't have before or if it's that I'm afraid if I don't keep my hands busy they'll want to resume bad habits (not just food...I was a smoker pre-op too). Oh well, busy hands keep my mind from dwelling on things right now and that's good. Sherri

Sherri, I am so sorry to hear about you grandmother. Poor dear! I hope she recovers well. When it rains it pours! Take care of yourself and Bill. Sounds like you both have a lot on you right now. My prayers will include not only Jay but also your grandmother. Karen

Sherri, You might be surprised about your grandmother. My grandmother was 84 when she fell outside her home and broke her hip, December 27, 2004. She laid in the snow for 30 minutes before a neighbor heard her calling for help. She had to wait 3 days before they would operate on her. She has a bad heart (and a pacemaker) and we were all worried about pneumonia. She didn't look well (bad color) and seemed so weak, we just didn't think she would pull through the surgery. She did wind up having to live in the nursing home because she was not a good candidate for a hip replacement and her joint is too worn out to support her weight. But she is now 86 (to be 87 in June) and doing very well. She and my mother are in the same nursing home (Regency Place in Greenwood) and have very active social lives (bingo, euchre, cooking classes, craft classes, you name it)! I hope your grandmother does as well. I will keep her and your son in my thoughts. Cindy