Grandmother in the hospital

Bad: the pneumonia has spread to her kidneys and she seems pretty much unconscious; she doesn't seem aware that anyone is around. Good: pneumonia is the only thing wrong with her, and she is comfortable. The doctor guessed she has a 60% or so chance of surviving this. 60% isn't great, but OTOH for an 84-year-old with pneumonia it's pretty good. I asked my parents and sister if I ought to come out there, and my parents said they would pay for me if I wanted to, but that it would be for me only; she wouldn't know I was there. So I'm going to wait. If she dies, we'll come out for the funeral. If she lives, we'll be out there in August anyhow for my birthday.

Well, it seems the abx didn't knock out the infection, it has spread to her kidneys, and they don't have anything else in the arsenal. (She's at Emory Hospital so if they say they can't do anything else, they really can't.) They talked to my grandfather about it, and they're leaving the O2 mask on because it makes her more comfortable, but not re-starting the ventilator. They plan to move her to hospice or palliative care or whatever soon. My dad was concerned because, although she is heavily sedated and unconscious, I guess she is struggling to breathe and it sounds very uncomfortable to him, so I told him that when I had pulmonary edema and struggled to breathe I hardly felt it, because I was so out of it, even though it sounded awful.

It seems they are taking her off of life support today. So she is expected to die today or tomorrow. Mom asked me about travel plans for the funeral, so I said let's wait until she actually dies. I know occasionally people hang on for a few extra days before they shut down altogether, so it doesn't really make sense to set a funeral date already!

Kerri, yes, almost all of that side of the family, including their three children (my father and his brothers) are in the area. They have been making sure my grandfather is well looked-after.