This has been a pretty intense week!
On Wednesday, January 16, about 2 am, Grandma was admitted to Livingston Memorial Hospital because she had a low-grade fever and a few other symptoms. From what we found out, she had only been sick since about Monday. After doing some tests on her, they found out that she had pneumonia in both lungs! She's been in Livingston Health and Rehabilitation Center for more than two years since she had a stroke on Easter Sunday 2010. The fact that she had pneumonia wasn't really surprising because before she went to the nursing home, she had contracted pneumonia on several occasions because she had very little exercise.
Dad went to see her that day, but it wasn't until I saw her that afternoon that we realized that this was a life-threatening condition. No one at the hospital admitted to it at the time, but since she had pneumonia in both lungs and had labored breathing, I could tell that this was really bad. I could even hear the pneumonia in her lungs without a stethoscope. Dad and I quickly let all the relatives know the situation.
While I was at the hospital I was able to tell her that I loved her. She could just barely get the words "I love you" out. It was such an effort for her to say my name. At least she knew who I was. I held her hand for a short time. Knowing the situation, I asked her if she was scared. She said no. Whether she realized this was it or not, I couldn't tell.
I went to church that evening in Bozeman and realized during church that she probably wasn't going to make it. The hospital was administering antibiotics and oxygen to her, but I couldn't see how she could breathe like that for up to 14 days (the minimum amount of time to really know that you've kicked pneumonia).
After church, I visited her again. It was between 9 and 10 pm, and she was asleep. Her cheeks were rosy from using an oxygen mask. As far as I could tell she was comfortable. The hospital had put her on morphine, and although the hospital didn't want to say too much, I got them to admit that she could die in hours or days. I asked them to let me know if she had any changes and went home thinking that I would go back to Livingston the next day to stay with her. I didn't get to sleep until after 2 am.
I woke up to a call from Dad about 10:30 am yesterday. He had talked to some people at the hospital about medication. They went back to her room and she was gone. They called him back to let him know. Between Dad and myself, we notified everyone and while Dad was making arrangements for her, I was making arrangements for family.
Later I realized that about a week ago, I wondered if she might die from pneumonia because she had it occasionally while I lived with her, and she hasn't had it for more than two years. She's been unable to get out of bed on her own for a long time, and she can't exactly move around a lot.
It's interesting that Grandma passed away just days after her 85th birthday. Her sister died just days after her own 88th birthday. Not only that, but Grandma died less than a year after her sister. Those two ladies loved each other and were always together when they could be.
I started living with her in April 2004, and I've been helping her ever since. Her sister Betty needed help at the time too and Grandma couldn't do it on her own. I will miss her, but I know that she's in Jesus' arms now. Surprisingly, I'm doing alright considering. I think I must have done most of my grieving earlier. Mostly I'm relieved that she's no longer suffering as an invalid.
So much change has happened to me in the past year, and this also concludes another part of this chapter in Gardiner. I wonder what's next.
Lucinda May Dore
1928 - 2013
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