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I just spent my Wednesday driving down and visiting my grandfather.
For those of you who didn't catch the previous post, last Friday he was diagnosed with leukemia.
We've been supporting him starting with that visit Friday. My mom, my uncle, and my grandmother went with him, and his oncologist said "We need to discuss treatment, is there a time we can gather your immediate family up to meet together?" and my grandfather told him to send out to the waiting room. (In a funny note, the doctor asked why he hadn't written family medical histories on the form-- "Do you have any brothers and sisters?" My grandfather responded that there wasn't room, since he had 8 brothers and 7 sisters, and he and his youngest brother are the only ones still living.)
Since his heart isn't up to chemo or any other treatment, we're making him comfortable with transfusions, and he's going to remain at home.
I was thinking that I was going to go see him every other week (which I thought worked well with my work schedule) but after seeing him yesterday, I'm thinking that at this point I have the decision of how many times I want to see my grandfather ever again. So I'm going to be going down every week.
My mother's co-workers (she's a teacher) got together and made a plan: every week, two of the teachers are going to cook a homemade meal and send it with my mom to her father's house, so that my family can spend time together over dinner. There are 10 of them, so they have a 5-week schedule.
My grandfather has been active in his church and in the VFW (Veterans of Foreign Wars) and the Good Sams (a traveling club for retired people) for many years, and so many of those folks are taking the time to call, or stop by the house, and say hello to him.
His next-door neighbor (who is 94) mowed the lawn while they were out at the doctor's one morning last week. The other neighbor, not to be trumped, is doing it next time.
He says that the good thing about being this sick is that you find out how people really feel about you. I think he's a little surprised at the outpouring of love.
He is not in good health but he is in good spirits, and he is not in much pain (though he does complain that the line they put in his arm for transfusions is itchy).
For those of you who didn't catch the previous post, last Friday he was diagnosed with leukemia.
We've been supporting him starting with that visit Friday. My mom, my uncle, and my grandmother went with him, and his oncologist said "We need to discuss treatment, is there a time we can gather your immediate family up to meet together?" and my grandfather told him to send out to the waiting room. (In a funny note, the doctor asked why he hadn't written family medical histories on the form-- "Do you have any brothers and sisters?" My grandfather responded that there wasn't room, since he had 8 brothers and 7 sisters, and he and his youngest brother are the only ones still living.)
Since his heart isn't up to chemo or any other treatment, we're making him comfortable with transfusions, and he's going to remain at home.
I was thinking that I was going to go see him every other week (which I thought worked well with my work schedule) but after seeing him yesterday, I'm thinking that at this point I have the decision of how many times I want to see my grandfather ever again. So I'm going to be going down every week.
My mother's co-workers (she's a teacher) got together and made a plan: every week, two of the teachers are going to cook a homemade meal and send it with my mom to her father's house, so that my family can spend time together over dinner. There are 10 of them, so they have a 5-week schedule.
My grandfather has been active in his church and in the VFW (Veterans of Foreign Wars) and the Good Sams (a traveling club for retired people) for many years, and so many of those folks are taking the time to call, or stop by the house, and say hello to him.
His next-door neighbor (who is 94) mowed the lawn while they were out at the doctor's one morning last week. The other neighbor, not to be trumped, is doing it next time.
He says that the good thing about being this sick is that you find out how people really feel about you. I think he's a little surprised at the outpouring of love.
He is not in good health but he is in good spirits, and he is not in much pain (though he does complain that the line they put in his arm for transfusions is itchy).
