Taking it all for granted....

Us at the StoryCorps Event at work


These are just two of the hooked rugs Grandma brought with her to share at the event. They look pretty on here, but you should see them in person! GEORGEOUS!

All too often we find out the hard way that life is too short. My Grandma Will is currently in Shawnee Mission Medical Center. Before jumping right in I'll step back and give you the whole story. Back in 1994 she had a routine knee replacement surgery done. She ended up getting a staff infection in her new knee, and the end result was to amputate her leg. She was a fighter, she went throgh the process of getting a prosthetic leg and my mom spent countless hours over there as her acting home nurse. Helping her do the daily tasks that she had once admittedly taken for granted. She's managed to function since then on her own. This past summer she suffered a stroke. But once again fought through the pain and her own independence to come back home and live on her own. She is now 89 years old, and just a week ago my Uncle Roman and Aunt Sue took her to the hospital becuase she was complaining of the severe pain she felt in her "good leg." Needless to say she's been complaining of this pain since the stroke. Also they were finding signs of early alzheimers. So they admitted her and the doctors did some scans and such and found that sure enough her leg was fractured, severly. So 4 different specialists were called in each to give their oppinons. All four were conclusive that the only way to fix the fracture was to amputate her "good leg."

Here's the hard part. They said that with her health not being in the best situation combined with her age. They basically told us that if they preform the surgery, chances are she will not make it off of the operating table. The only other option is to pump her full of morphine and basically wait for her to die. Mom, Garrett and Grandma Turner went to visit today. She was in good spirits, she told mom the surgery was scheduled for tomorrow. So mom called me at work to let me know, then just after she called back. She said dad called and the surgery is not until Thursday. So mom called Roman to confirm and he said yes, we moved it back to Thursday, because the doctors said to get everyone who wants to see her up there, and to spend some time with her, because she really won't have a good chance of coming back out. Less than 10%.

So as hard as it is to type those words, as the tears are pouring from my face. I know that at least she will no longer be in pain. She is a fighter though, she's beaten the odds so many times before. I'm not assuming anything, but at the same time I want to prepare myself for what could happen. I want to try to be ready, even though I know you never really are.

My Grandma is very special to me. I am just like her, her build, her hair, her smile, I am so much like her that she will be remembered in me! I brought her into work in the summer of 2007 for our StoryCorps Family Stories event, and I got to interview her and ask her all kinds of questions and have it recorded. So I have that recording for life now. Her voice, her words, her thoughts on CD. And a copy is also in the Library of Congress....who else can say that they are in the Library of Congress with their Grandma, so I think that's pretty cool! She does too!

Please pray for her as she goes into surgery Thursday morning! Thank you! Royal