byCarmine

Looks like I’m going away after all, earlier than expected. Leaving this afternoon. Won’t be back till after the 28th.

This morning, at 4.30am, I got a call from my Mum to say that my Nana has passed peacefully. In many ways it is a big relief. Now everyone is busy with the funeral preparations and it seems I am to play a big part in it.

My brother and I will be pall bearers and I will be designing the programme and slide show of photographs of my Nana’s life. The funeral will be on the 28th, though I will probably be at home till the 26th. My brother will be flying over from Australia but with the time of year and short notice, it’s costing him $2500 for the ticket. Ouch.

Mud-wise. Please don’t send anything my way for a week, instead copy in TL and Archon for now.

From left to right, Poppa, Aunty Sue, My Mum, my little brother Kyle pulling a face, and Nana. With me in the pigtails right at the front.

My Nana is still holding on. A comment was made on my previous post about holding to the memories rather than as she is now, or has become over the last year as alzhmeirs has slowly taken her away from us. And the above picture is a snapshot of a memory I have as a child when my Nana and Poppa were having a go at riding my Uncle Ernies bike around our back yard. That’s our house in the background, and the window  you can just barely see is that to my bedroom. Our old red toy box is on the porch with our toys scattered across the concrete.

I am not entirely sure that it is good news, nor can it really be classed as bad.

Yesterday the doctors and nurses were sure that my Nana was going to pass away, but she managed to pass through a bad patch and has stabilized somewhat. She is still dying. And at the moment, the drawing out, the waiting, is tough on my family. She is not comfortable, she cannot talk, she is barely aware and rarely opens her eyes. Though the nurses say she can hear us. She can’t move. And she can’t eat. She is on a morphine drip and a sedative most of the time. Maybe she is trying to hold out for Christmas?

A part of me wishes I was there, but in some ways I am glad I am not. It is not how I want to remember her. And it wouldn’t be easy for Ewan being there, sitting still with the family so upset and barely holding together. It is better that he is here, getting excited about Xmas still without really any kind of awareness of what is going on.

Something a little different. And a little more light-hearted; this is good for a laugh: http://uncyclopedia.wikia.com/wiki/New_Zealand

Family stuff.

My grandmother has alzheimer’s and after a lapse in her care by her rest home and her hospital, resulting in fall and a collapsed vertebrae, she has been given about six months to live. Obviously this is hard on my family, particularly my grandfather, my Mum and her siblings. And also for me, it hasn’t been easy seeing her Alzheimer’s steadily get worse, and for her state of mind, and comfort in her last few years be compromised and reduced because of a huge lapse in her care.. makes it even harder to deal with.

My role is largely a supporting one, doing research into things so that we can lay a complaint and ensure what care she has now is up to standard.

So yeah, that’s why. I miss things here and hope to be back and a bit more active this Friday, once my work finishes up for the holidays.