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In case anyone was wondering, Nanny is still in the hospital. It's not the cancer. She's got some sort of infection thing going on in her lungs; they can't get the cough to stop and they're not sure yet what's causing it. They're going to do a bronchoscopy, which sounds complicated and slightly frightening, but they're assuring us that it's necessary to figure out what's going on. Treating the symptoms obviously hasn't been working.
Poopah and I visited the hospital twice yesterday. We sat in her comfy 7th-floor room last night and talked for several hours.... She has a view of the bay from her window, and after darkness fell the trees in front of the building lit up with white Christmas lights. It's a nice view. Around 5 or 6 o'clock she started having some sort of weird pain in her right arm, and over the next few hours nurses and physician's assistants rushed into and out of the room, measuring her blood pressure (there was a 50 point difference between her two arms) and giving her different pain medications. I think it was around 8 o'clock that we heard the singing. We were all tired and a little frightened by the pain, and in the dark it was easy to imagine the pain turning out to be something serious. I caught just a snippet of a Christmas song and thought maybe it was someone's TV down the hall, so I stepped into the hall to see what there was to see. The hall was deserted and the singing had stopped, so I went back into the room. A moment later it started again, then stopped, so this time I decided to venture into the hall and around the corner, because I was sure that it was carolers and not a TV. Around this time the nurses were ordering an x-ray and an EKG for Nanny, as the pain was intense and no one knew why.
Around the corner in the hall was a group of about 15 or 20 people, who were indeed singing Christmas carols. The EKG and x-ray were ordered and took place, and then the carolers came and crowded into Nanny's tiny room. She requested "Greensleaves" and they sang the Christmas words, "What Child is This?". It was absolutely beautiful. It was maybe 9 o'clock by this time.... We were worried and stressed and sad that Nanny might not be home for Christmas, and here these wonderful people (who were simply doing this because they wanted to--they were a group of friends who'd been caroling every Christmas for 20 years) were bringing a bit of Christmas spirit to us, filling this tiny room on the cancer floor with beautiful music and love. I got teary-eyed. They stayed after the first song and sang what I think they called "Midnight Mass," a long, complicated song that their voices fit perfectly. It was beautiful and sweet and I think it was the nicest thing I've ever seen done for someone. Nanny was a bit teary-eyed herself. As the carolers filed out, after we'd thanked them profusely, Poopah turned to Nanny and said, "Christmas lives."
Eventually Nanny was brought nitroglycerin for the pain, since the morphine hadn't done much. I don't know that the results of the x-ray are back; the results of the EKG didn't show anything unusual. As far as I know the pain was gone today. The pulmonologist has requested the bronchoscopy for sometime the week; I don't know when. At any rate, they're taking care of her and doing their best to get her better as quickly as possible. Again, it's not the cancer, even though she is on the cancer floor.
Hopefully she'll be home for Christmas, but it's not looking like that's going to happen.
Will someone remind me next Christmas to go caroling at a hospital? Would anyone else like to come with me?
Poopah and I visited the hospital twice yesterday. We sat in her comfy 7th-floor room last night and talked for several hours.... She has a view of the bay from her window, and after darkness fell the trees in front of the building lit up with white Christmas lights. It's a nice view. Around 5 or 6 o'clock she started having some sort of weird pain in her right arm, and over the next few hours nurses and physician's assistants rushed into and out of the room, measuring her blood pressure (there was a 50 point difference between her two arms) and giving her different pain medications. I think it was around 8 o'clock that we heard the singing. We were all tired and a little frightened by the pain, and in the dark it was easy to imagine the pain turning out to be something serious. I caught just a snippet of a Christmas song and thought maybe it was someone's TV down the hall, so I stepped into the hall to see what there was to see. The hall was deserted and the singing had stopped, so I went back into the room. A moment later it started again, then stopped, so this time I decided to venture into the hall and around the corner, because I was sure that it was carolers and not a TV. Around this time the nurses were ordering an x-ray and an EKG for Nanny, as the pain was intense and no one knew why.
Around the corner in the hall was a group of about 15 or 20 people, who were indeed singing Christmas carols. The EKG and x-ray were ordered and took place, and then the carolers came and crowded into Nanny's tiny room. She requested "Greensleaves" and they sang the Christmas words, "What Child is This?". It was absolutely beautiful. It was maybe 9 o'clock by this time.... We were worried and stressed and sad that Nanny might not be home for Christmas, and here these wonderful people (who were simply doing this because they wanted to--they were a group of friends who'd been caroling every Christmas for 20 years) were bringing a bit of Christmas spirit to us, filling this tiny room on the cancer floor with beautiful music and love. I got teary-eyed. They stayed after the first song and sang what I think they called "Midnight Mass," a long, complicated song that their voices fit perfectly. It was beautiful and sweet and I think it was the nicest thing I've ever seen done for someone. Nanny was a bit teary-eyed herself. As the carolers filed out, after we'd thanked them profusely, Poopah turned to Nanny and said, "Christmas lives."
Eventually Nanny was brought nitroglycerin for the pain, since the morphine hadn't done much. I don't know that the results of the x-ray are back; the results of the EKG didn't show anything unusual. As far as I know the pain was gone today. The pulmonologist has requested the bronchoscopy for sometime the week; I don't know when. At any rate, they're taking care of her and doing their best to get her better as quickly as possible. Again, it's not the cancer, even though she is on the cancer floor.
Hopefully she'll be home for Christmas, but it's not looking like that's going to happen.
Will someone remind me next Christmas to go caroling at a hospital? Would anyone else like to come with me?
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no subject
Date: 2004-12-20 11:42 pm (UTC)From:anyway...
i just wanted to let you know that your nanny is in my thoughts and prayers. and that if you need to talk (about anything) my cell phone is always on. and i'm up pretty late with galen every night...
i love you seester!! *giant hugs* hang in there and have faith...
oh, and i'd be glad to go caroling with you next year :)
no subject
Date: 2004-12-22 07:50 pm (UTC)From:How's Galen doing? How are you doing? Is he letting you get enough sleep?
Love you too, sees!
no subject
Date: 2004-12-22 07:57 pm (UTC)From:in fact, i was just about to make a post about my emotions. short version... galen's good and he sleeps a good stretch of about 5 hours a night, wakes up hungry, eats, sleeps for another couple of hours and gets up again.
you take care, seester!
waffles!!!