A two-sided reunion

The time has come and gone. The annual Weed family reunion. I really love this time of year. My intent was to have something written up, in advance of the date, to read for the family. I had a few ideas roll around in my head but nothing ever became solid. The days and nights dwindled down and although I had SOMETHING on paper...it never became enough. For me.

I had taken Thursday and Friday of last week as vacation days so I could spend some real quality time with the family that got to town early; and also to get my baking done. And finish my speech. Ugh!!!

On Wednesday, Quintin's grandfather's hip shattered while he was doing nothing. Literally nothing. Just laying back in his recliner and it all went to hell in a handbasket. Grandma...without asking for help from anybody...gets him into his hoverround and off to the hospital they go. THEN she calls and lets everyone know what happened.

On Thursday, I had lunch with Aunt Ruth and a whole mess of cousins. I say mess because well....they ARE related to me and we all know I'M a mess, right??? Right??? Which, in turn makes THEM a mess! HAHA! Aunt Ruth fixed her beans and cornbread and it was a great time. Aunt Nete from Arizona was there. Man she looks good! If there's one thing I can say about my Weed aunts and uncles...they sure are a good looking bunch!!

On Friday morning, we left for Des Moines and visited Grandpa. He was going to have a complete hip replacement. At least I THINK that is what he was supposed to have! We got to the wing where he was supposed to be at before surgery...the Powell wing...and they look him up in the computer and tell us that he has already went down for surgery. Great. Where is THAT at???

"Go out to the main hallway, take a right and go all the way to the brick wall. Take a left from there and get on the elevators around the corner. Go to level A and then you will go left from the elevators and an immediate right. Go all the way down to the end of the hallway and you will be in the surgical waiting area."

*breathe*

I'm pretty sure I gave her the stink eye. But we proceeded to take her instructions and follow them to the letter. We go down the hallway and pass through the Main Blank Entrance. And the bathroom. Keep walking. We pass the regular entrance into Methodist. And the bathroom. Keep walking. Quintin wasn't so sure about finding a brick wall but lo, and behold, there it was. Right in front of us...the brick wall. If it were a snake, it would have bitten us; or strangled us.

Took a left and another left and got on some elevators with some other guy that didn't know where he was going. We get off on level A and leave him scratching his head because he can't find the radiology floor. For all I know he's probably still wandering around that place. Dazed and confused. Poor guy.

So we took a left and then a right...only because that was the only way we COULD go at that moment as only SPECIAL people could go in the doors ahead of us...and we walked down this hallway that seemed to never end. "I am pretty sure we are below the hospital now Quintin. I can feel it." He agrees and says he can "smell it." As we pass doorways, we look for windows and nobody has even one. Finally at the end of the hallway, there is a nice waiting room. Nobody is in it and the sign says that is a waiting room for something...that is not surgery. So we follow the hallway out of there, leading to yet another area. And passing another bathroom.

At this point, we have walked forever and I already feel my blood sugar starting to drop. We go sit down in the waiting room and found it pretty funny nobody from our family was there. After all, GRANDMA should be there!!! Nope. I called her only to find out that he isn't even back from dialysis yet and didn't know when he would be coming. I told her we would be around here and if she didn't find us in half an hour, she better call because I think we were in the wrong area altogether.

We tried to entertain ourselves on our phones but that was short-lived. "Let's go get something to eat." The shakes were starting and I didn't want to deal with it. To the cafeteria we go! Back up the never-ending hallway. To the elevators. It was then we realized we came down the "wrong set" of elevators. Apparently they have elevators for patients and elevators for visitors. Let me just tell you that the patients' elevators are bigger than the visitor's. Not fair dudes.

We got some yogurt and mozzerella cheese sticks. I also got this package of pretzels with hummus. Quintin had never had hummus before and I was pretty sure he wasn't going to try it...because he's really good at avoiding new and yummo stuff like that...so I was looking forward to having that to myself. Nope. Not only did he try it but he liked it. And he was good enough to let me have about 3 pretzels from it. He did the same thing to me when I bought 6 crab rangoons from Hy-Vee...he only wanted 2 but ate 4; I got 2...only because I made him stop eating them.

No sooner though, than we had sat down and started eating, my phone rings. It is Grandma and not only has he been back to his room...but he is in pre-op so if we want to see him, we better get back up there. *sigh* Trying to hurry in a hospital is almost impossible. You have people to wait on; elevators to wait on; never-ending hallways to walk. We scarfed the rest of our food down. Inhaled I should say.

We got back to the waiting room to go see Grandpa and I really wasn't prepared for what I saw, when I walked in. There he lay...on the bed with wires coming out of him and he was gray. Pale was all I could get out of my mouth, "You look so pale. He looks so pale." But he wasn't pale. He was gray. He was covered up with what looked like a million blankets and you could see the pain in his tired eyes. We made small talk and told him how much we loved him and he then asked Grandma to move his arm for him.

*insert red flag here*

My mind was going a million miles a minute right now. I kept thinking "That is his heart. This has something to do with his heart." But, what do I know? I mean...he's laying in a hospital bed with computers hooked up to him. Wouldn't they know if he was in distress? Turns out they didn't know! And he DID have a slight heart attack! Oh boy, I can't believe this. They couldn't do the surgery because he had a fever of 103. Come to find out, his hip was full of infection too. AY-YI-YI!!

Oh yeah.....I finally got to use one of those bathrooms I had passed and passed and passed!

It is getting to be early afternoon and we have to head back for a family dinner. We get home and get our clothes changed, a little rest, car loaded up with food...and I head back to Orient to Aunt Ruth's house. I had probably been there an hour when I got a phone call from cousin Lisa, saying that Grandpa is in ICU and he isn't good. Quintin pulls up to the house at the time I am hanging up. Telling my husband this news and then expecting him to drive like a normal human being, is like asking a barber to take an inch off of a bald man. It's impossible. And scary.

Quintin probably beat me back to the house by 10 minutes. On the road again.....I was singing it the whole way back to the hospital. Quintin opened up to me and let his feelings out about his Grandpa. I mean, I knew they were there...he just usually doesn't talk about them. And he sobbed. Nothing breaks my heart like a strong man broken into a million pieces. But I know that is what his heart and his soul would need so he could face his Grandpa.

I don't know why but I feel the need to always park in the garage when we go to Methodist hospital. Each and every time. No matter what side of the hospital we seem to need to go to. Ugh! The long walk back to the brick wall...that was about seventy miles long that night. This time we went to level 2...I think...and walked up a ramp, down another long hallway and into a room that looked like a slumber party gone wrong! People were just looking at us like we were alien. Blankets on couches, pizzas on every table and nobody that I had ever seen before...looking back at me.

We walked out and down another hallway until we finally found someone who looked like maybe she could help us. She took us right back in that same room and we got on an elevator. We literally went up one floor. Seriously we could have taken the steps if we had known we were in the right area. Found the family and got updated.

We could only go in three at a time so we took turns. We were at the point where we were afraid this was goodbye. I...we...did a lot of praying. A lot of it. And while Quintin felt bad that we were missing my family reunion dinner...we were really enjoying ourselves with his side of the family. So we really weren't missing out at all. I just prepared food for one side while I got to talk, cry, laugh and tell stories with another side. Bittersweet to say the least. All the way around.

On Saturday, we went to my reunion at the Orient park and enjoyed ourselves while we were there. Spent about two and a half hours before heading back to the hospital. Grandpa seemed to be doing better at this time. Not great but better. We knew for sure he would never be able to have the hip replacement surgery. His heart just won't take it. Talk about being between a rock and a hard place.

On the way home Saturday evening, we stopped in Dexter to have some more family time with Ryan, Lisa, their kids and Andy. It's always a good time with them. Just too bad we don't get to do it more often. Got home and, of course, couldn't sleep. It's times like these you hope you said all the right things in case it was the last time you get to see someone or talk to them. I don't know about Quintin's but my mind was racing with things like, "Does he know how much I love him? Did I tell him right when I left so it's the last thing he heard?" I hate it when I do that to myself.

Don't know what time we got to sleep but I do know that I missed the Weed family breakfast. I could kick myself for that. When we did get up, it was to go right back to the hospital to see Grandpa before heading to the bowling alley for little Tori's 4th birthday party. That was fun. I don't particularly care to bowl too much but it was fun watching everyone. And playing with all the babies that were there. That's always fun!

We got back in time to visit the last of the cousins in Orient that evening and came back and brought Miss Bella home with us for the night. Being around all those babies sure made me miss her a lot. She helped me do my grocery shopping on Monday and she made sure to say "HI" to everyone she came into eye contact with. A very very loud HI!

It has been a crazy 5 days and I am ready to be back at work. Back to "normal," whatever that is. We have to go back to the hospital in the morning to take some things to Grandma and have a little visit. Today they went in and flushed the infection out of his hip and took his pins out from the previous surgery a year or so ago. Next up is an angiogram. Don't know when that is going to be but I will be over here in the corner...saying my prayers.

I know this has been a long blog. I apologize. Just letting you know about the life of Shellie and all the crazy antics that make my day go by. Until next time...thanks for reading!