Sunday, January 22, 2012

Sad Yet Happy Ending


My dad just received a phone call from my Grandma, his mom, telling him that his step mom is in a nursing home. My dad’s baby sister, my favorite aunt, called my grandma this morning to tell her that she was living with my uncle and that “Joycie” was in a nursing home very sick.
My Aunt has a disorder very similar to downs. She does not look downs, but everything else is downs. She is in her 40s but has the mentality of a 5-7 year old. She was born with a hole in her heart and no roof of her mouth. They had to make the roof of her mouth for her and close her heart when she was still really little. After my grandpa died Joyce was the one that was taking care of her. My grandma (dads step dad) is diabetic and wheelchair bound. She has had several toes removed because of the diabetes. She is not a kind person, but she took care of my aunt like her own child.
My aunt has made claims that someone is in a hospital before, usually when she isn’t getting her way and wants to spend time with a different family member, so my Grandma (dad’s mom) called my uncle to see if my aunt was telling the truth, and she is. My aunt is staying with my uncle, who will become her caregiver, because my grandma (dad’s stepmom) is very sick. The nursing home is having hospice come in and they don’t think she has much longer to go. I haven’t seen my grandma (dad’s stepmom) in just over 4 years.
My grandma is 73 years old. The main artery from her lungs to her heart has shrunk, so because of that her lungs are not getting enough blood flow to or from. Her lungs can explode at any time. She is non-responsive. She has gained 50 pounds of water weight in the past 2 months. She has fallen several times in the last few months. The doctors have said it is just a matter of days until she passes.  They have taken her off of all her meds and are putting her on morphine.
My uncle took my aunt out to buy her all new clothes, shoes, and undergarments because all the clothes my grandma (dad’s stepmom) had for her were falling apart. My aunt told my uncle ‘I finally have a life’ which is something no one ever expected her to say.
The whole thing just sucks, but I am happy that my aunt is finally happy. She deserves it, she has not had an easy life. 
My Aunt is the one in the middle, my uncle is on the left. 
The one on the right is another aunt of mine.


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