Celebrating a Birthday and Remembering My Grammie

Today is a very exciting and sad day all in one.  It is hard to believe that my "little" Hayley is turning five.  It seems like just yesterday, I was bringing her home from the hospital in the take home outfit I wore home from the hospital!  While we celebrate, we are also sad to say good-bye to my grandmother.  She passed away yesterday afternoon.  I knew this day was coming because we were told she wouldn't recover from the pneumonia, but it is still hard.  I thought I would share a few of my favorite pictures I have of her.

My brother, my grandmother and I at Storybook Forest
This was taken some time in the 80s

A Full Plate to Say the Least

So every now in then in my life, and I am sure this is not special to just me, there are times that it seems that my "plate" is overflowing with things to do, matters to handle and family emergencies.  I do believe that these things come in threes, so my three things are here and I am dealing with them. Here are the last 8 days of my life in a nutshell:

1. This is the least important, yet still stressful, item on this list.  My computer crashed.  And when I say crashed, I mean it is completely dead.  Now in the grand scheme of life, is this tragic?  No.  But in the life of a mom who is working full-time on a website and has lost all documents for the website, it is stressing and will be very time consuming to recreate all that I have lost.  Lesson learned:  Back up everything because YES, it can and will happen to you!

2. Last week, my grandmother was admitted to the hospital with pneumonia.  She is 90 years old and we were told that she is failing and won't recover.  The hospital has sent her back to her nursing home because they say there is nothing else they can do for her.  She has been unconscious, other than a few moments here and there for a week now.  Apparently, patients that have similar cases to my grandmother can live for days, weeks, months and even years.  This has become very stressing for the family because it is hard to see her in the state she is in.  Luckily, at this point, she isn't in pain.  My grandmother has always been a dreamer and encouraged me to pursue any idea I may have, no matter how crazy it is!  Lesson Learned: Make sure the people you love know you love them before it is too late.

3. This is the most difficult of the things happening this week.  My mom went into the hospital the other day for chest pains.  We found out she had a major blockage in one of her arteries and was told she needed to immediately have a procedure done to see if they needed to put a stint in.  It has been a week and she still hasn't been seen by a doctor because apparently no one has a spot in their schedule.  This actually occurred the exact day my grandmother went into the hospital.  My mom has always been someone on the go and never sits still.  Now, just walking around her yard or up a flight of stairs has become difficult.  The frustrating part is the doctor's lack of participation in helping get my mom into the cardiologist.  Lesson Learned:  No one is more of an advocate for you than you.  If you aren't going to speak up for yourself, no one else is either (by the way, this is also a great tip for parents with school-aged children).  My dad has been on the phone constantly trying to get my mom in for an appointment without response.  I think our health care system, especially in our area, is pathetic.  I would never wish what my family is going through on anyone, but too many doctors have become numb to what families are going through.  Bedside manner has been lost by some and I think they need to take a step back and consider what it would be like to be in the shoes of someone who is sick and looking for help or in the shoes of the family of someone who is dying.  Don't get me wrong, there are some great health care professionals out there, so this is not a blanket statement for all.  It is just my two cents of what has been my family's experience over the last week.

Though the week has been tough, we have a lot to celebrate and look forward to.  My brother and his family will be here from Texas today, and I can't wait!  My youngest nephew is walking now and I can't wait to see him walk in person!  Friday, my daughter turns five, and we are having a full out Princess/Fairy/Rapunzel celebration.  We will all be spending some quality family time together this week.  It comes at the perfect time because it is just what we all need.

So, if you are still reading this (I know, this is very lengthy!!), you'll know why I haven't been around much the last few weeks.  But enjoy and love the time you have with your family and friends, and don't take for granted that they know how you feel!

Thanks to Lynn at My Pixie Dust Diary for the invite to join the Wonder Wednesday Blog Hop!