garnigal | Family Update

It was a busy weekend (I seem to have scheduled things for almost every weekend this summer - at least I got to stay home this weekend), as Derek and I hosted the summer birthday's for Dad's family. We had 13 out of 20 come (not counting the baby, since she help eat all the salads the food - maybe next year). It was nice, the rain held off, we got into the pool and played like we were still teens.

Mom and Dad made it too, which is good - it means they weren't in Owen Sound biting their nails about Gran. Grandma had surgery for her stomach cancer on the 7th and it's been up and down since then. She had a second surgery few days after to deal with a small bleed, but on Thursday night she was in deep distress. Either one of the procedures or flushing the feeding tube punctured the bowel, which means big, bad infection. They went back in on Thursday night/Friday morning (Mom and Dad got the call at 12:30am Friday) to do the bowel resection, and she's been heavily sedated since then. The Nurse Practictioner didn't hold out much hope on Friday, but every day she's a little stronger and as of this morning she's passed the 72 hour critical period. I haven't heard if she's off the critical list yet, but Mom was hopeful yesterday.

So it's been an interesting summer so far - lots of fun, lots of stress. It's making me appreciate every day, and it's making me appreciate my optimistic attitude. I know I'm far enough removed that it's easier for me to maintain hope, but someone has to.