Some bad news

It has been a trying week in Utah for my family.

My Grandma Barbara (who had a stroke earlier this year) went on her first trip without a family member last week. She and a good friend went to St. George with their dogs to relax and enjoy the warm November sun.

Tuesday night my Grandma decided she'd like to walk her dog Willow at dusk and went out alone. She tripped and when her friend arrived back at the condo to find it empty, she started searching. It was now dark out and my Grandma lay on the side of the road with a broken arm and a broken pelvis. I can't imagine how scared she must have been.

Her friend found her, thanks to Willow. Willow saw the car he recognized and started barking. An ambulance was called and my Grandma got transported to the local hospital. X-rays were done, and we found out some terrible news. Her right arm was broken in three places (she only uses her right arm and hand because her left was and is still so affected by the stroke). And her pelvic bone broke in two places, right above her hip joints on both sides.

She was not going to be able to walk for a long time.

The way her arm was broken it needed surgery if she ever wanted to use it again. This is terrible news because the stroke was caused by a hole in her heart that got repaired only two months ago. After the heart repair there were strict orders to no have any more surgery for at least six months, giving time for the heart to fully heal.

And her arm needed to be surgically repaired.

What to do? Doctors and family members when back on forth. Yes, give her the surgery. No, we better not. Finally it was decided that yes, we need to repair her arm. So my Grandma was transported, by ambulance, six hours north back to Salt Lake City, with my aunt and mom following in their car.

Tomorrow my Grandma's arm will be fixed. She is scared. We all are. Then she'll be transferred back to the nursing facility she was in earlier this year to start the long hard road of letting her pelvic bone heal. As you can imagine, we are all very sad with the turn of events.

Plus, James was sick last night. Went in when we heard crying and found he had vomited EVERYWHERE, and was still barfing. Thank goodness he's feeling back to his old self this morning. It was really sad and scary for him, but a nice warm bath, fresh jammies and bedding and some booby milk seemed to do the trick.

And because I never want to end the post with such a downer (because, really, what a horrible story!), I am going to post a video of my sweet man doing some major giggles here shortly! So funny!

Above: two months before my Grandma's stroke, she held her first great grandchild, James.