Grandma Lach

This has not been a good month for Grandparents in my family.  A couple of weeks ago Grandma Lach's confusion started getting significantly worse (which is saying a lot because her dementia was already getting pretty bad).  They discovered that she had severe urinary tract infection (UTI) and she was admitted to the hospital for treatment.  The infection had been untreated for who knows how long because she never told anyone she was having problems.  She was so dehydrated and weak that after the infection was better she transferred to a nursing home for rehabilitation and then the plan was to move in with Aunt Mel & Uncle Glenn.  A few days ago she started getting worse again and was readmitted to the hospital for what they thought was the same UTI come back.  Turns out she has an infection called C. diff, which is very difficult on the GI (gastrointestinal) tract especially in the elderly since they are already so weak.  Last night and early today she started complaining of severe abdominal pain.  A CT scan revealed that there was a perforation (tear) somewhere in her GI tract.  The physician's were unsure where exactly, but they had planned to take her to surgery to investigate and fix the problem because you cannot survive with a perforation.  Unfortunately the infections of the last two weeks have left Grandma septic (full blood infection) so she was unable to go to surgery.  At this point she is in the hospital alert and as oriented as it is possible for her to be.  She is still having pain, but she is being treated with morphine and Aunt Mel is staying with her tonight, then Aunt Kathy will be arriving from Oregon early tomorow morning.  Tomorrow they will meet with Grandma's regular family physician to make some plans.  Grandma already has a living will that states she doesn't want anything that will artificially extend her life, so my dad and his sisters are struggling with what they should and shouldn't do to help her through what seems like the last bit of her life.  She is a fighter though so we don't really know how much time she has left.  Hopefully tomorrow her doctor will be able to give us a better idea of her overall condition and prognosis.  I will keep posting information as I find out.  She looks so tiny and frail right now though...it is definately a tough time for our family.  Especially considering that this time two weeks ago she was still completely independent, living alone and everything.  This coming Saturday will be her 86th birthday.

Grandma & Grandpa Lach...a long time ago.

Grandma Lach with Me and Mimi back in 1981.

Grandma Lach with Shawn and I at our wedding last September.