Hello Again

Hello, sorry it has taken me so long to write. I'll start off with last weekend. Josh and I saw the new Pink Panther movie. We both really liked it. It makes me want to see the old pink panther movies. Then Saturday night was our bowling night. We bowl in a league with my mom and step Dad Rod. Our team name is the Pinguins. Like Penguins only with pin instead cuz of bowling pins, get it? get it? I know I'm a dork. Anyway. We had to play this team we don't like. But we beat them in all three games. Josh bowled really good. On his last game every frame was either a spare or a strike. Then we had dinner at Perkins. Sunday we went to church and afterward there was a bake auction to raise money for vacation bible school. It was so fun because all the kids got little numbered paddles so they could bid on stuff, but then the auctioneer who was Josh's uncle Randy had to keep checking with the kids parents whenever they wanted to raise a bid. Keep in mind that they kids were like age 4-10 so they would keep bidding higher and higher and then there parents would come over next to them and take there paddle away. It was funny. Josh and I got a plate of chocolate walnut cookies and then some valentine cupcakes. A big jar of Hershey kisses went for over $100. And there were like four pies that went for over $40 each. So I will be interested to see how much was raised in total tomorrow at church.
A couple weeks ago Josh had installed wireless internet on my computer so I could go anywhere in the apartment and get internet without being "plugged in". He said it was my Valentines Day present, which was fine with me because he had taken a whole afternoon off work and went all over Madison looking for a hookup for wireless on my computer. I have a Mac Powerbook G4, So he needed an Airport connection and the only place he could find one was at Comp USA which is on the far westside. I wish we had an Apple Store in town. Then he came home and took a long time hooking it up. Anyways, on Tuesday morning he wanted his Valentines Day present. He is the kind of person who wants to open their Christmas presents a week before Christmas. So I let him open his present right away in the morning. I got him a $100 giftcard to Home Depot which he liked a lot. Then he gave me a card which was really sweet since he usually forgets cards. (I think it's a guy thing ya know.) Anyways, then he pulled out a little box from his pocket and it was a pair of pretty sparkly earrings. It was so cool since I wasn't expecting anything. I liked them a lot so I wore them to work. Then I was at work and about quarter after twelve and clerk came by and said I had a delivery downstairs at the desk and I was like "what?" So I went down there and there were half a dozen roses and a card with my name on it. It was from Joshy. I had never had flowers delivered to me before. It was soo sweet, So then at lunch I called him and thanked him for the flowers and everything. I was like "Why did you get me flowers and earrings? You said the wireless internet was my Valentines present?" He said he just told me that so I wasn't expecting anything. He's sneaky. When I came home he showed that he had already spent that $100 giftcard to Home Depot. It must have been burning a hole in his pocket all day. He bought a belt sander and jig saw. Then I made us enchiladas for dinner and were very good. Unfortunately that night I got some bad news...
My Grandpa who has been sick for about a year and a half was put in an inpatient hospice that afternoon. He was diagnosed with cancer in October of 2004. He has had many rounds of chemotherapy and radiation treatments which contained the tumors for awhile but you can only have soo many radiation treatments. He has lymphoma and there are three main tumors in his chest. Anyways a couple months ago they said there really wasn't much more they could do for him, but they would keep him on chemo pills so he would feel comfortable even though it really couldn't help the tumors. Eventually they decided to take him off so he could have home hospice where a nurse would come every week day and check on him. I guess you can't have hospice if your still on chemo. He was on oxygen because he had developed emphysema. On Tuesday he was having a lot of trouble breathing and so the nurse suggested he be put in inpatient hospice. The doctors on Tuesday said they would do a two day evaluation of his condition. There are requirements on how bad a patients condition must be for them to stay in a inpatient hospice because there is only so much room. So Wednesday I took off work and went to see him. He is in a really nice hospice in Fitchburg which is just south west of Madison. He has a big room which looks out into the woods and there are birdfeeders. In his room there is a couch, table, chairs and a big TV and big bathroom. It's very nice. When I got there he was sleeping, so I laid on the couch and let him sleep. About 45 minutes later a nurse and doctor came in and woke him up to listen to his breathing and stuff. He saw me on the couch and was so excited. He smiled and pointed at me and told the doctor "That's my granddaughter!" He couldn't talk very loud, he's soo weak and everything. Then after the doctor had left he sat on the edge of the bed and I sat next to him and held his hand for awhile. Then I got him some ice water since the water he had was rather warm. Soon after, my Dad and Nana showed up. My Dad showed me the cafeteria and I had a hotdog and chips. At the hospice you can get food and eat in the room. They also have a library with internet, games, and books you can use. Then there is a laundry room the family can use and a couple kitchens . Then my Aunt Millie and Uncle Frank came. There was a meeting in his room at 2pm with the doctor and a social worker to discuss his condition. Basically the main concern at that point was that he couldn't eat or take pills and he was hardly drinking anything. They were giving him lasiks through his IV which helps remove the excess liquid in his legs and lungs that had built up. The idea was to watch him and see if he could start eating a little and take his pills otherwise his kidneys would eventually shut down and he would go into a sort of anemic coma and die. So if he could start eating a little and take his medicine then he would be well enough to go out of the hospice and be put in a skilled nursing facility which he wanted because he knew he couldn't get enough care at home. So then the social worker talked to us about the different nursing homes in the Madison area and was gonna look into getting some more information about them for us incase his condition improved. A while after the doctor left. A man with a dog came to visit. The dog is a volunteer there and visits the patients. The dog was a little orangish brown dog and its name was Mitzy Sue and even had her own ID badge. She went and sat on my grandpas bed and let him pet her. Then her owner took her on the floor and the dog did some tricks. It's soo nice to have animals visit patients. It takes there mind off of what is going on. I think my grandpa enjoyed it. A bit later my Grandpa got tired. So we let him rest and I went home.
That night (Wednesday night) it started snowing and we got a blizzard. By morning there was about five inches on the ground. Every school in the area was closed. Even Madison Schools and they NEVER close. I really didn't want to go to work but I thought they would need me since a lot of people at my work come from out of town. My car was COVERED with snow and took me forever to clean off. About half way to work the snow turned more to ice and it was thundering. When I got to work there were only four people in my department. Eighteen people work in my department!!!! Soon after I got there another lady and my supervisor showed up. It was snowing soo bad outside it was like a whiteout. Everyone was worried because it was supposed to snow all day and we wanted to be able to get home. The managers were coming around letting everyone know it was alright if they wanted to leave. Since me and two other people were the only ones on the phone and the phones were pretty dead they shut the lines down. Everyone pretty much decided to to go home. So after only 2 1/2 hours I decided to leave. I got outside and about 5 more inches had fallen. So again I had to clear off my car and the roads were NOT plowed. It was so scary and took me forever to get home. At home I just watched TV and relaxed. We ended up getting about 10 inches of snow!
I had been trying to call my dad all day and couldn't get an answer so finally around 8:30 pm I called my Aunt Millie. My Uncle Frank answered and said that my Grandpa had had a really bad day and my Aunt Millie, Nana, and Dad were all going to stay at the hospice overnight. I was so worried I knew I had to be there so I packed a few things and Josh took me over there. Luckily the roads had been plowed by now. When I got there my Dad said that in the morning my Grandpa was having a lot of trouble breathing and was so scared and kind of freaking out. At one point he had grabbed his head and said "Pain". So they decided to put him on morphine so he wouldn't really feel anything and give him Lorazapam to keep him sedated. He was breathing much better when I got there and look peaceful. The doctors explained that he had taken a turn for the worst and his heart will now eventually give out. They predict he will most likely pass away over the weekend, but it could also be another week. I think we all hope it will be sooner that later. We are keeping him in the "drug induced coma" so that he can breath better and not be afraid or in pain at all. I stayed over night at the hospice with my family. I slept on the floor in the coma. But I guess I didn't really sleep much, only a couple hours. In the morning his condition didn't really change much. I had such a headache from crying and I felt like I was gonna throw up, probably from the anxiety; So I called in sick to work. Around noon Josh came and took me home so I could sleep. I slept all afternoon and night until about 8pm. It felt soo good. Then I looked at some pictures of my Grandpa and me from when I was little. He was such a good grandpa. When I was little we would go fishing together and play baseball. When I stayed overnight he would make tents out of sheets in the dining room and we would play darts in the basement and cards and he would sing me lullabies at bedtime. He would always have lotsa flowers growing around the house and before I went home we would go around and pick a bouquet for my mom and wrap them in wet paper towels. I have so many fond memories of him and will miss him soo much. He was also the best cook in the world. My Dad has been calling me and keeping me updated on his condition. Right now he's still pretty much the same. Tomorrow after church I'm am gonna go see him again. I will keep my blog updated on his condition. Sorry this post is soo long, I just had soo much to talk about.