Just Waiting and an Update

Last night we got a frantic phone call from son James who lives in a garage apartment behind Grandma's house in Las Vegas. She had just been taken to the hospital in the ambulance and James was on his way right behind her. She had been in the living room and she called James in asking him if he saw the numbers floating in the air and then collapsed and stopped breathing. The paramedics got there in just a few minutes but he didn't know how to do CPR in the meantime so her brain was without oxygen for those few minutes. They wouldn't let him ride in the ambulance because they needed the room to work on her and he won't learn how to drive so he had to find a neighbor to give him a ride to the hospital. Keith tried to calm him down some over the phone and told him to call us back after he got to the hospital and let us know what was going on. We are glad that James was actually in the house with her when this happened instead of out in his apartment or out doing whatever he does.

So we waited. And in the meantime Keith called his oldest brother Bruce who had already been called by James and had his car gassed up and ready to drive from Ventura to Vegas, then called his next oldest brother Brad in Idaho to let him know what was happening.

Then finally James called again and said things really didn't look that good. She hadn't had a heart attack, her heart looked fine, but brain scans not so good with not a lot of activity going on in there. The doctors really didn't have an answer as to exactly what had happened. So, she is in ICU, breathing on her own but not awake. And that's all I know at this point.

I asked Keith if he wanted to go out there today but he seemed hesitant to do that just yet and will let Bruce get there and see what needs to be done at this point. He left for work this morning as usual but I'm wondering how well he will be able to concentrate on work matters and all that, I know he's been expecting news like this for a long time but expecting and actually happening are two different things. So, we're just waiting.

Update.

Keith just called, he had talked to Bruce who said that Grandma had woken up and was confused and wondered where she was and was fighting to get the IV out of her arm. The doctors said that it didn't look like she had suffered a stroke this time but did see evidence of a past stroke that they had missed last time she was tested. So. They don't know what happened yet, just that she had some sort of seizure. Keith is going to go out there for a few days either today or tomorrow just in case he needs to say goodbye. She is a feisty woman, though, so who knows. We just don't think that she'll be able to go back to her house without some sort of full time care. James is supposed to sort of be that person, but since he doesn't even know CPR, well...

So that's where we're at right now.